Karaoke Anyone?
by kdip4014
Summary: Sequel to ...and other family. More family members are introduced as House and Cameron try their hand and hearts at a relationship.
1. New Case

Here it is everyone. The first part of the sequel to ...and other family. This story will be done slightly differently than the last one, which means that there won't be a posting every day. or even twice a day. I've got most of the story plotted, I'm just making some final changes and trying to figure out what order to post them in, so it'll be more like once - maybe twice - a week. There might be a bit more medical drama to this one, and there will definitly be a more consistent plot line, but that's for all of you to read. I really welcome reviews this time (speaking of...is anyone else having problems with the 'alert' system? None of the reviews for the last chapter of the first story got to me, and I'm not being alerted when a new chapter of the stories on my story alert list is posted). Oh yeah, and this isn't a cross over, but to eliminate having to come up with names and having to keep them straight, I'm borrowing names from another show.

* * *

"Hey guys," Reed enters the room to see Chase showing Foreman and Cameron photos from his trip to Australia. "Welcome back, Chase. How was your vacation?" 

"Just what the doctor ordered." Chase responds, his accent seeming thicker than usual.

"What are you doing here?" Cameron asks as the cardiologist gets a cup of coffee, "We don't have a case, do we?"

"I guess we do. I received a page from Cuddy to report here as soon as I finished with my last patient."

"Finally." Foreman replies. "Our last case was two weeks ago."

"That's a good thing Foreman," Reed responds, "It means that people aren't getting sick."

"But it puts us out of business." Foreman is prevented from continuing as House enters and grabs the cup of coffee from Reed - who continues to use his mug when she's in the office. She doesn't respond when she notices House come up behind Cameron, placing his hand on her waist for a brief moment. A small smile graces Cameron's face at that same moment, though it quickly disappears when she notices Chase look up, holding up a photo of the Opera House for her to see.

"Here's the photo that you wanted to see, Cameron." She pulls the photo from Chase's hands and takes a closer look.

"My god, that is gorgeous." She comments on the setting sun behind the structure. "I would love to take a trip there to see it in person."

"There's a conference held in Sydney every year, maybe we can convince Cuddy to send us this year." Chase informs her. Replies from Cameron are stalled when the Dean enters the conference room.

"Good afternoon everyone. Chase, welcome back." The intensivist smiles a reply as Cuddy hands the file that she's carrying to Foreman. "I've got a case for you, special request. A man sustained a head trauma. The only complaint that he had immediately following the injury was a slight headache. CT scan revealed slight swelling and fluid build up in the forebrain. Surgeon went in, drained the fluid, less than an hour later, the guy is has vision and hearing loss, nausea, vertigo, photophobia…oh yeah, and his new CT scan is crystal clear."

"There has to be something wrong." Chase states as he puts away his photos. Elliot beats House to the comment that he wants to voice.

"My god, Captain Obvious. Are you really a doctor?" She turns her attention to Foreman. "Is he having any heart problems?"

"Difficulty breathing, but that was immediately after he was extubated, so it could be a side effect of that. The nurse noted that his breathing returned to normal after an hour or so."

"Corpsman," Cameron corrects. "Not nurse, corpsman. The stamp has an enlisted rank, not an officer." She looks up and is met by stunned looks by Foreman, Chase and Cuddy. House and Reed are amused at the looks from the other three. "What?! My dad is retired military."

"Very well," Cuddy recovers, "He and his surgeon will be here in two hours." Cuddy turns to Reed. "Dr. Reed…you can be involved in this case until Dr. House removes you."

"Why wouldn't I be able to be involved in this case?" Before Cuddy can respond, a gasp is heard from Cameron. Every doctor turns to face her, curiosity evident on their faces. Cameron glances between the file and Reed, wondering what to say. "What is it, Cameron? I'm going to find out eventually."

"The patient-" Cameron falters slightly before resuming confidently. "Captain Jason Reed." Reed goes pale and wavers slightly on her feet. "It's your husband." Cameron gets out just as Reed collapses. House gets to her in time to break her fall, but his handicap prevents him from catching her completely.

Foreman and Chase rush to her side while Cameron gets her a glass of water. The two men lift her into a chair and Cameron kneels before her offering the water that is brushed off.

"I'm fine, just shocked." House speaks up next, concern evident in his voice.

"Foreman, Chase, get her on the couch in my office. Cameron, get your purse," he goes on when Elliot is in his office, being situated on the couch. "I need you to go to Princeton Academy and pick up Mackenzie."

"Absolutely," Cameron goes to retrieve her purse and quickly leaves, not even stopping to remove her lab coat. House turns to Cuddy when she's gone.

"Don't remove Reed from duty. In 10 minutes, she'll claim that she's fine and ask to get back to work. Put her in the clinic, have her runs gels in the lab, give her charting to catch up on…whatever you want. She's going to want to stay busy."

"Alright. Send her to the clinic. I'll page you when they get here.

* * *

Two hours later, House passes through the clinic on his way to the elevators, and runs into Reed, checking out from the clinic. 

"Hey," House greets her gently.

"Hey, I just got a page from Cuddy." The Dean appears before anything else can be said.

"Hey, I just sent Lieutenant Commander Thatcher up to Diagnostics. Your husband just got here."

"Thanks, I was just on my way up." The elevator ride passes silently. The two nurses riding with the trio takes note of the serious faces that the two senior doctors and the junior doctor traveling with them have and wisely keep silent. Upon reaching their floor, the trio exits and head to the department. They are brought up short by the sight of Cameron talking and laughing with a woman in utility trousers and combat boots. A utility blouse is thrown over the chair next to them. A look of recognition passes over House's face and he quickly moves to enter the conference room first.

"Attention on deck!" He bellows upon entering, causing the woman to come to attention. "I have always wanted to do that. Surprisingly being a military brat, I never got the chance." The woman immediately relaxes when she sees that the call for attention was a prank pulled by House.

"It's not a joke to call attention like that, Dr. House." The woman states quite seriously.

"How did you know that I was Dr. House? For all you know, I could have been Dr. Cuddy, or Chase, or Foreman." The woman shoots a glance to Cameron that clearly states _Is he serious?_ Cameron merely shrugs her shoulders and steps back to watch this play out.

"Let's see. I know that you're not Dr. Foreman because I attended a neurology conference two years ago which he spoke at. I know that your Dr. Chase is the son of Dr. Rowan Chase, and you don't have an Australian accent, and I know that you're not Dr. Cuddy, because I spoke with her not 10 minutes ago." She nods at the Dean, who is standing just behind House, before turning to Reed. "You must be Dr. Reed. I want to assure you that the procedure on your husband was textbook. But if I did do something wrong, I will be the first to admit such. I want to find out what is wrong with him."

"Thank you. You might be a squid, but I know that the military doesn't accept morons, so I'm sure that it wasn't your fault. And I accept any information that you have to offer…" Reed trails off, not knowing what name to call the woman.

"Lieutenant Commander Angela Thatcher."

Reed eyes narrow slightly at the name, quickly spotting similar features between the doctor standing before her and the one standing just to the left. She glances at Cameron, who nods imperceptibly before Reed smiles broadly and extends her hand,

"Elliot Reed."

"Pleasure to meet you. Where are the other doctors? I'd like to get started so that we can figure out what's wrong as quickly as possible."

"Anxious to get back to your tin can above the sea?" Cameron teases. Thatcher merely smiles back at her to continue the banter.

"Awww…Ally, are you aware of the glowing tint to your skin? Now that means one of two things…either your in love, or…" She stops and her eyes grow wide before reaching out to place her hands on Cameron's belly, speaking excitedly, "There's going to be another Cameron on the scene soon! Mom will be so thrilled! Hello, baby," she speaks to Cameron's belly, "I'm your Aunt Angie."

Cameron spazzes out, smacking her sister's hands away from her belly. "Don't _EVER_ do that! It's creepy!"

"Just returning the favor AllyKat." The familiar nickname causes the Cameron sisters to smile slightly before the older one continues on, oblivious to the other doctors in the room, including Chase and Foreman, who just entered. "Seriously though, Ally. You look happy, happier than I've seen you in a long time." She studies Cameron for a minute, just long enough for Cameron to become uncomfortable. "You do! You've got a new guy in your life! Oh, we have _got to_ talk when we're done here." She notices the other doctors in the room and moves to introduce herself, her previous professionalism back in place.

"Dr. Foreman, it's good to see you again - don't bother asking, you never met me, but I attended a conference that you spoke at some years ago." She shakes his hand before moving on to Chase. "Dr. Chase, pleasure to meet you. I was sorry to hear about your father's passing last year. My condolences."

"Thank you, miss-"

"Lieutenant Commander Thatcher." Foreman speaks up at that.

"You're Captain Reed's surgeon."

"Yes. We just arrived 20 minutes ago."

"Good to meet you, now we can get started." Foreman moves to the whiteboard, but is stopped by House before he can write anything. Foreman takes a seat and opens the folder to recite the patient's symptoms and looks up to see House writing down the last of them, stopping him short. He quickly recovers and turns to Thatcher. "Could anything have gone wrong during the surgery?" He immediately delves in while the others take their seats around the table.

"Plenty. Carrier sickbays are designed to accommodate anything - including brain surgery - but even then, there's a limit to what we can do. And we can't forget that - no matter the size - we are essentially a ship on the ocean. Everything factors in. There was a storm the day Captain Reed had his CT, but we did another one when the seas calmed down, and I immediately put him into surgery when we realized that the swelling was getting worse than the first CT scan showed, before the storm got worse."

"Could the equipment have been faulty?"

"Yes. We're still a nation at war, and politicians will cut corners wherever they can to withdraw public support from the war. And the _Kitty Hawk _is one of the oldest carriers still commissioned-"

"With the exception of the _Constitution_." Cameron cuts in, causing her sister, Reed and House to smile.

"With the exception of the _Constitution_," Thatcher repeats, throwing her sister a warning glare before continuing. "But our equipment is kept up. Though I would recommend that we first redo the CT scan. Our equipment is old, so yours might be a lot clearer."

"Alright," House cuts in. "Redo the CT scan, and draw some blood," House falters slightly, sending an apologetic glance toward Reed before continuing, "Test him for all STDs, especially syphilis and gonorrhea - they're the most popular in the ports-"

"No need to, Dr. House." Thatcher cuts in. "The _Kitty Hawk _is a war ship. There haven't been any liberty calls this tour. If Captain Reed has an STD than he got it here, before he shipped out. And since Dr. Reed doesn't seem to have any symptoms…"

"The only way that I rule something out is when a blood test tells me that I can…and even then I don't always believe it. Run the tests. Also check for any toxins." He turns to Thatcher, "Have there been any problems on board lately?"

"Did you not hear a word of what I just said?" House doesn't comment on the sarcastic tone, causing Thatcher to sigh before continuing. "We had a gas leak in the carrier bay a few weeks ago. A couple pilots were sent to me with respiratory problems. They were put on oxygen and grounded for a week. Captain Reed was one of them. He was cleared by a flight surgeon to be put back in the air. There were some problems with refueling the oxygen tanks, but those were found to be leaks in the o-rings of the tanks…repaired, no one was hurt except for a few airman with O2 burns. Fuel tank on a bird ruptured after a hard landing, just after the gas leak. Captain Reed was standing too close, slipped, got a concussion. Once again, he was grounded. He was cleared two days before this incident. And that CT scan was clear, because he was sent to Aviano for it. Our CT was broken at the time, all of his scans and medical records are in the file," Thatcher motions to a thick file on the end of the table.

"And problems that could have occurred during the surgery…"

"As I said, Dr. House, the procedure was textbook."

"I wasn't referring to the procedure." There is a stare down between the surgeon and House; Cameron makes a noise to interrupt, but is cut off by her sister raising her hand before responding.

"I might be a Navy trauma surgeon, but I'm still a surgeon. I've gone through a surgical residency… in fact it was done a Seattle Grace - perhaps you've heard of it? I'm well versed in all aspects of the body and it's systems, even though I often don't get to focus on my specialty-"

"Which is?" House interrupts.

"Orthopedics." She willingly supplies.

"Messing up there has slightly fewer consequences than messing up in the brain."

"Civilian doctors screw up, you get sued, you settle, your malpractice insurance goes up. I screw up, and I go before a Competency Review Board and get court-martialed. Best case scenario: I'm demoted in rank and given a scut job at Bethesda or Pensacola for a few years until I prove myself again. Worst case: I get a dishonorable discharge and I can't even get a job at the free clinic back home. Screwing up is screwing up, regardless of the part of the body that you're working on. I didn't screw up Dr. House." The tone of the young doctor in front of him slowly lowers throughout the speech, though it started out dangerously low, causing House to glance between her and Cameron several times before turning back to the whiteboard.

"You sure the two of you are related?" He asks once his back is turned.

"Until the DNA tests prove otherwise," Thatcher states, causing Cameron to snort in laughter at the response that is always given to similar versions of that question. The two women allow their gazes to meet briefly before breaking out in laughter. Foreman and Chase glance between the two disbelievingly. Foreman finally speaks.

"You two are related?" He motions between his colleague and the surgeon temporarily assigned to the team.

"Sorry, guys." Cameron composes herself to respond. "Lieutenant Commander Thatcher is my older sister."

"Right," House breaks in, causing the two women to return to their professional appearances, "Foreman, you and Thatcher go redo the CT; Chase, draw the necessary blood to run an STD and toxin screen, then run the tests; Cameron, you get to go through Captain Reed's medical records for any clues. Dr. Reed," he turns to his niece. "Your job, is to retrieve your daughter from Wilson's office and go see your husband." He gives her a small smile, which Elliot warmly returns before getting to her feet and leaving. The others quickly follow to go about their tasks. Cameron stays behind, pulling the records closer to her to go through them, not noticing when House sits down beside her and leans over, bracing his elbows on his knees.

"I hope that your sister being here doesn't ruin our plans for tomorrow night."

Cameron looks over to him and smiles. "Nope. Angie's more obsessive about her patients than I am. The only time she'll leave the hospital while Captain Reed is here is when I force her to go home and get a real night's sleep. Otherwise she'll camp out in surgery's on-call room, shower in the locker room, and live in scrubs."

"Good. I'll pick you up at six."

"Can't wait." Cameron smiles sweetly at him before he gets up and returns to his office, turning on his iPod and Gameboy before relaxing back in his chair with his feet up on his desk.

* * *

yes, there will be a progressing relationship between our favorite couple, but not quite as serious as some of you reviewers hope (at least not now, maybe later if I feel the desire to).

Oh yeah, here's your history lesson: The _USS Constitution_ was this country's first commissioned ship of war, and even though it is no longer used, it has retained is commission, making it the oldest commiossioned ship in history. I think it's in dry dock in Boston...I forget. If anyone knows, let me know, I think I might use it more in the story.

You know the drill: Hit the purple button below and let me know what you think.


	2. Meteor shower

Okay, just a warning...House is SERIOUSLY ooc in this chapter, but let's chalk it up to him showing his sensitive side to Cameron. Also, the dance references belong to the writers of _Center Stage_. I absolutly love that movie...and it eliminates the need to keep up with original characters. Ya'll know the deal, read and review. Let me know what you think.

* * *

Once all the other ducklings have left Tuesday night, Cameron goes in search of her sister, finding her in the on-call room on the surgical floor. 

"Hey," Cameron states, startling her sister. "What are you reading?"

"Just some literature. Reading up on my neurology, wouldn't want House to call me on it again. He's just like you described him."

"But if there's anyone that can find out what's wrong with Captain Reed, he's the one to ask."

"I see that your infatuation with him hasn't dwindled." Cameron ducks her head down and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. "I have to admit though, for an older guy, he is hot. Gotta give you points for that."

"Thanks," Cameron gives her a wry smile before taking a seat on the floor next to the bed.

"So there's a rumor going around the hospital that you've got some hot date tonight." Thatcher sits up and starts playing with Cameron's hair.

"Yeah, well, you know how hospital rumors are."

"Yeah, there's usually a shred of truth to them. Who's the guy?" Cameron tilts her head back and smiles softly.

"No one you know."

"No shock there, given that I'm stationed in a different country. Fine, no names, tell me about him." Thatcher takes the tie out of Cameron's hair and starts to put her hair in a French braid.

"Just a guy."

"Any clue what you're doing tonight?"

"Nope. He just told me to wear comfortable shoes and bring an appropriate jacket."

"So what will you wear?"

"Jeans, sneakers and one of my Beatles shirts."

"And the 'appropriate jacket'?"

"Remember that one I got at Urban Outfitters two years ago?"

"Yup. Nice choice."

"Thanks." The siblings remain silent for a moment, before Thatcher speaks up once again.

"So how did you two meet?"

"Here, at the hospital."

"He's a doctor?"

"Yeah."

"First date?"

"I'll let you know tomorrow."

"Tonight is your first date?"

"Yeah. We've tried other times, but something always comes up. We managed to get through a cup of coffee two weeks ago. We made a deal that if we could go two weeks without wanting to kill the other, than we'd arrange an 'real' date. The other times have just been filled with small talk: favorite movies, books, and such."

"Ahhhh, so this is the 'feelings' date."

"Hopefully. He's not known for revealing his feelings, so hopefully I won't scare him off. I think this will just be to give me a little insight into him and what he likes, the next date, I get to plan."

"What are you going to do? Or have you not planned anything, in case tonight goes badly."

"I've got an idea, but I'm not sure."

"Well, if you need any help, you can come to me as long as I'm here." Thatcher finishes off the braid, tying it off.

"Thanks. It's good to have you here, Angie." Thatcher leans back on the bed to continue reading, but is interrupted when something is thrown on her chest. She puts the book down and picks up a key chain with a key attached to it. She looks to her sister, not voicing her question. "Spare key to my place. Just in case." Cameron leaves before Angela can say anything

* * *

Cameron is putting the finishing touches on her make up when she hears the knock on her door. Glancing down at her watch, she see that it's just before six. She gives her hair one last primp, having left it in the braid her sister put in it, all she did was make sure that it was still secured before grabbing her purse and answering the door. Immediately she notices that he's wearing his leather jacket. _I guess this means that we're taking the bike._

"Hi." She hopes her voice doesn't sound breathless.

"Hey. You can leave that here." He motions to her purse. "You won't need it."

"Okay." Cameron drops her bag on the couch, pulling out a tube of lip gloss and her ID before returning to the door. Closing and locking it, she turns back to House, looping her arm through his. "So, are you planning on telling me what we're doing tonight?"

"Nope, that would spoil the surprise." Once they've reached the curb, House grabs the spare helmet and hands it to Cameron, who dons the helmet before straddling the bike, scooting as far back as she can, before being stopped by the basket strapped to the back. She attempts to peak into it before she's stopped by a gentle smack on the hand by House, who straddles the bike himself, putting it into gear and pealing out into traffic, causing Cameron to grab tight around his waist.

* * *

"Where are we?" Cameron looks around and recognizes the grounds of a high school just outside of town. House gets off the bike, giving Cameron a helping hand before unstrapping the basket, handing it to Cameron with an apologetic look on his face. She takes it without question, before being dragged off to the woods surrounding the practice football field. In the dim light, Cameron notices that they're following a path. After a moment of silence, they come upon a clearance. House glances at his watch before taking in the setting sun. 

"We've got a few hours." He cryptically states before pulling out a thin blanket that was tied to the top of the basket and spreading it out on the ground and settling himself down, leaving space for Cameron.

Cameron remains standing, though she does drop the basket. "What are we doing here?" She asks again, hoping for an answer.

"McKlustky meteor shower is supposed to show tonight. I thought we could watch it."

Cameron drops beside him is silence, stunned. "Wow, I have to admit, I figured we'd be doing something like watching TiVo'd L-Word episodes while enjoying take-out."

"Well," House reaches into the basket for the rest of the items, and pulls out a container from a Chinese food place up the street from the hospital - one that the team has often frequented on a late night watching after a patient. "You got part of the evening right."

Cameron laughs before taking one of the containers labeled with her name and settling herself beside House, who opens up is own container of Chicken Fried rice and proceeds to eat. They sit in silence, with House attempting to steal some of Cameron's food, though he's snipped at by her chopsticks every time.

"How long until this meteor shower starts?" Cameron asks as they finish their food and put the empty containers back into the basket.

"About 3 hours, if it starts when the space people say that it's supposed to."

"And what are we supposed to do until then?"

"How about a question game? I ask you one question, you answer; you ask me, I do the same, though we both reserve the right to plead the fifth."

"Deal." They both lay down on the blanket, staring up at the sky while they each think up a question, House is first.

"If you could spend the day with only one of your parents, who would it be?"

"Dad. You?"

"Mom. What would you do."

"When I was an undergrad, I was home every weekend. Dad had a vintage car that we were restoring together. That's what we'd do. We'd spend the entire weekend in the garage talking about everything and nothing."

"What kind of car?"

"'68, GTO." House lets loose a low whistle.

"That's a nice car."

"Yeah, apart from the fact that it gets maybe 8 miles to the gallon."

"What does he do with it now?"

"He shows it in antique car shows."

"How much work did you two put into it?"

"Let's put it this way…it's a really good thing that three of his five children got scholarships to college."

"That much, huh." The two remain silent for a bit before House once again breaks the silence, "What are you thinking of?"

"I'm trying to figure out if those three stars are Ares or three random stars." House follows her pointing finger to pick out three stars in a V shape.

"It's Ares. And those two over there," House takes her hand and directs it to a pair of stars just below them, "Those are Gemini."

"Nice. What are you thinking about?"

"How much crap I'm going to get from Elliot tomorrow."

Cameron laughs softly. "Does she know what you were planning on doing tonight?"

"Nope, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"She won't hear anything from me." Cameron turns her head and meets his gaze before snuggling closer to him under his arm as he puts it out for her. Cameron poses the next question. "What happened with the cadaver that you had during gross anatomy? Elliot told me that she had an unknown cause of death and that you figured it out and told her family the truth. What happened when you told her family?"

"Nothing. She was the only child of only children. Her parents died a few years before… the only family she had left was her senile grandmother, and I don't think that she fully understood what it was that I was telling her. Why did you choose Immunology?"

"My best friend died of AIDS when we were 18. I was determined to find the cure before I died."

"Instead you come to work for me."

"It has it's perks. If I hadn't come to work for you than I wouldn't be here right now."

"I beg to differ. Prometheus once stated 'Once, a long long time ago, all people had four legs and two heads. And then the Gods threw down thunderbolts and split everyone in two. Each half then had two legs and one head. But the separation left both sides with a desperate yearning to be reunited, because they each shared the same soul. And ever since then, all people spend their lives searching for the other half of their soul'. We would have met eventually."

"Are you calling me your soul mate?" Cameron turns her head to watch him as he answers.

"If I said yes, would you run away?"

"If I did, would you chase me?"

"Sorry, gimp leg."

"Seriously, House."

"Seriously…" House looks down into her eyes, "Yeah, I would." He leans down and delivers one of the sweetest kisses that Cameron had ever received, though he pulls away before it can gain any intensity. "So, perfect rainy afternoon would be spent doing what?"

"Cooking with Dad."

"You cook with your dad, restore cars with your dad, and talk to your dad. Is there anything that you do with your mom?"

"Yeah." House looks down and sees that she's biting her lip in embarrassment. She laughs softly before continuing. "Mom taught me how to relax."

"By doing what?"

"You know that blue and white blanket on the back of my couch?"

"Yeah."

"First one I ever made." She looks up at House. "Mom taught me how to quilt and crochet."

"Hmm." House takes a moment to ponder this new piece of information. "Did she affect your decision to become a doctor?"

"No. When I was 12, she took me to work with her one day. There was a woman that just had her appendix removed and her stitches popped. I passed out from the sight of the blood."

"Obviously you got over that."

"Obviously. What made you choose nephrology?"

"No one else in my class was going to specialize in that field,"

"And you always want to be different."

"Yup."

"Why'd you choose Infectious Diseases as your subspecialty?"

"There weren't any nephrology fellowships offering when my residency was up, there was one in infectious diseases."

"I half expected you to say something like you closed your eyes and opened your anatomy book to pick your specialty."

"I considered doing that, but decided against it. I could have opened up to the Immune system…and then where would we be?" Cameron smacks his shoulder playfully before settling back into his side, grin firmly in place. "What do your other siblings do? You said that 3 of you got scholarships."

"Alex went to the Naval Academy. Angela got a partial scholarship, then joined the Navy to pay off her med school bills. I also got a partial scholarship for college. Ashley got a full ride to Julliard, and Adam has one more year at CU-Boulder for Geology and Environmental Studies. So technically four of us got scholarships, but since Angela and I only got partial ones, they combine to make one."

"What's Adam going to do?"

"He plans to work for the EPA."

"And Ashley?"

"Senior year, recruiters will be attending her senior showcase and musical. She's hoping to get a spot at the Cooper Neilson Dance Company…And you have no clue what that means."

"Sorry."

"The founder of the company was trained at a Julliard feeder academy, primarily in ballet. Ashley's the same, she always took ballet. A guy that she dated her freshman year got her into jazz and hip hop. CNDC has the most eclectic combination of dancers of any other company. They don't care about how good your feet are, just that you love to dance."

"Sounds nice. I always pictured you as a dancer."

"I did a little; was in a few musicals in high school."

"Really? Which ones?"

"Sophomore year was _Little Shop of Horrors_, Junior was _Grease_, and Senior year was _Rent_. What about you? Did you ever lend your musical prowess to the drama department?"

"Not willingly."

"Translation?"

"Senior year I found out that I had to have a fine arts course in order to graduate. I wanted to take jazz band, but the only period that class was offered was the same period as Anatomy. So I wound up in Drama. And I was forced to audition for the Spring musical in order to save my grade."

"What was the musical?" The laughter is obvious in Cameron's voice.

"_My Fair Lady_. I played Henry Higgins." Cameron can no longer contain the laughter and as it erupts, House pulls back slightly. "What's so funny?"

"The thought of you with a British accent." Cameron calms down just enough to speak. "Sorry, but that is kind of funny."

"What spots did you hold?"

"Sandy in _Grease_, and Maureen in _Rent_."

"Good girl gone wild for one, and a lesbian in another? Interesting selection. What spot did you have in _Little Shop of Horrors_?"

"Female lead. I don't even remember the character's name anymore. I'd rather forget that whole experience…the wig I had to wear was horrendously uncomfortable."

"Very well, let's move off of our high school embarrassments."

"What made you want to go into Diagnostics?"

House is silent for a bit before he begins this story, his voice so low and soft that Cameron strains to hear him.

"When I was a teenager, my dad was stationed in Japan. I met this guy there, he had a medical degree but he worked in the morgue. He was considered one of the untouchables in Japanese society, but he was the doctor that people went to when they had a case that they couldn't solve…and that was the only time they ever spoke to him. If someone ever died and no one knew how, he'd do their autopsy and find out what went wrong with them. He was probably one of the smartest people I'll ever know, and the most brilliant doctor, and it's a title that he'll never be referred as."

"That explains a lot."

"Oh God, you're going to analyze me again, aren't you?"

"Just shut up and deal. Here's a man that you admire, a man that essentially has no place in society, he could do what ever he wanted, and people ignored him. You feel like you're just drifting from place to place, people ignore you no matter what you do. Unless you do something great."

"Society never recognized when he did something great."

"But you do. And you show it by using that knowledge and passing it on to others, like me and Chase and Foreman. You don't let Cuddy or the public recognize when you do something great, but we know, and we'll remember…and one day we'll use it to save another. And like it or not, people _DO _admire you."

House turns on his side and faces Cameron, remaining silent until she turns and faces him. They each prop their heads up on their hands and stare at the other in silence. Finally Cameron breaks it.

"Why did you lie? When you said that you didn't like me?"

"Everybody lies."

"But why did_ you_ lie?"

"Because even then I knew that I was in love with you, and I thought if I pushed you away hard enough, then you'd take the hint."

"I'm not sorry that I didn't."

"Neither am I." House leans forward until their lips touch. Slowly this kiss does build in intensity until House pushes Cameron onto her back and moves so he's half on top of her. Briefly, before her eyes close, Cameron registers flashes of light in the sky above her.

_Perfect timing_ she thinks, before allowing her eyes to close and just enjoy the assault on her lips. After several minutes, they pull back for air, and then Cameron allows her eyes to open and register that the meteor shower has begun.

"Wow." She lets the word out on an exhale.

"I have been told that on occasion." House replies with a grin. Cameron smirks and pushes him back to his side of the blanket.

"I meant the meteor shower."

"Right." House adjusts himself again, allowing Cameron to use his arm as a pillow when she snuggles back into his side, lying back to enjoy the miracle that occurred that night.


	3. Day After

Alright, so personally I think this chapter kind of sucks - blame it on writer's block - but it does introduce alot, so it's necessary. As for what's wrong with Captain Reed, let's pretend that it's possible, even though I have no clue if it is or not. Thanks to everyone for the reviews, it's great to have the support, and thanks to _kenmoresq_ for the bit of info, never know if it might be used...anyways...on we go. Read, review, and don't forget to enjoy it.

* * *

"Good morning." Cameron quietly states, waking Elliot. The cardiologist opens her eyes and sits up straighter in the chair, slightly disoriented. Cameron holds out a cup of coffee, which she eagerly accepts, cautiously taking a sip.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Cameron pulls a second chair over to the same side and takes a seat. "How's he doing?"

"No change."

"We'll figure out what's wrong with him." Cameron assured the younger doctor. "Where's Mackenzie?"

"Claire came by late last night and took her to their place. But we have more important things to discuss," Elliot's voice turns mischievous and her grin devious. "How was your night?"

Cameron ducks her head and fights a losing battle to keep the blush down. Elliot grins from her seat.

"That good huh?"

"NO! I mean, yes, it was wonderful. But not in the way your mind seems to be thinking. House would say we stayed firmly at first base. But it was amazing."

"Leave it to Greg to ruin a romantic evening with sports metaphors."

"Actually, not one sports metaphor came out of his mouth last night."

"Impressive."

"Very." Cameron agrees. They fall silent for a moment, but are startled by a voice emanating from the bed.

"Please, don't stop. Listening to mindless girl talk is oh so entertaining." Elliot jumps to her feet and rushes to her husband's side; he's currently facing them with his eyes open. Elliot moves, still holding his hand, so Cameron can check his stats. "So you're Greg's new girl."

"My name's Dr. Cameron. How are you feeling Captain Reed?"

"Like I got hit by a truck. Did anyone catch the license plate?"

"I'll check with the MPs." Elliot gets out through happy tears, which Jason reaches up to smooth away.

"No tears, Ellie. I'm alright."

"Let's wait until Greg clears you before we say that."

"Alright. How are my men?" Elliot dips her head in the attempt to avoid answering. "Elliot? How are they?"

"Corporal Bell and Staff Sergeant Palmer didn't make it. The rest of the men are going to be fine. Most of them were superficial wounds and third degree burns, they were treated at the base sickbay. A few had to be flown to Germany and Italy. But nothing too serious."

"How's Mackenzie taking this?"

"She's alright at the moment. She's with Claire and Chase." Cameron finishes her check and moves to leave.

"I'm going to get Foreman and Angie."

"Thatcher?" Captain Reed questions, "What's she doing here?"

"What's the last thing that you remember?"

"Colonel Little giving us the orders. It's been a few days since then, hasn't it."

"Yeah, like 7 days."

"What happened?"

"Let's wait until Foreman gets here."

* * *

Cameron strides into the conference room to find Chase and Angela sitting at the table going through books.

"Angie. Captain Reed is awake, I've paged Foreman."

Thatcher quickly jumps to her feet and follows her sister out the door. They meet up with Foreman just outside the room and enter together.

"Good morning, Captain."

"Commander. Seems I've got a week that I don't remember."

"Which is why Dr. Foreman is here. He's diagnostics' neurologist."

"Nice to meet you, Doctor."

"Likewise, let's get started." Foreman quickly runs through the necessary tests while the others stand in the corner observing. They all hold their breaths while Foreman has him try and put the pictures in order to tell a story. Captain Reed hesitates for a moment before shakily moving them around. Foreman doesn't say anything, just collects the cards and gives him a tight smile before motioning the others out of the room. Elliot gives her husband a quick kiss before following them.

"What is it?" Elliot demands once the door is shut. Foreman hands the cards over to allow Reed to see the order. "So they're backwards."

"Has he ever done things right to left instead of left to right?"

"No. Left side first is a fact of life in the Marines. He'd never do something right side first." Reed sighs and rubs her forehead, glancing into the room. She smiles reassuringly at her husband before turning back to the others. "So what now?"

"I'd suggest an MRI-"

"But he's got a metal plate in his skull." Reed interrupts.

"Right. Let's get another CT. Maybe something has shown up that was hiding before."

"I'll give Claire a call and let her know that she and Chase can bring Mackenzie by." Cameron tells Elliot.

"Better make it after the CT."

"By the time that they get here, it will be over."

"Thanks Cameron." Elliot returns to the room while Foreman and Thatcher go to schedule the CT, and Cameron returns to the office to call Claire.

* * *

"DADDY!" Mackenzie comes barreling into the room, looking like the five year old she is, and jumps up onto the bed, throwing her arms around her father, who returns the embrace like he hasn't seen her in eight months (and let's admit…he hasn't).

"Hey, peanut. I missed you." After a few moments, Mackenzie pulls away to stare at her father, but not too slow…he doesn't get the chance to wipe away the tears that had begun to fall. She does it for him.

"Geez, Dad. You'd think you hadn't seen me in 8 months."

"Eight months, 9 days."

"You don't have it down to hours and minutes?" Captain Reed looks at the watch on his daughter's wrist and does a quick mental calculation.

"Nineteen hours, 32 minutes."

"Seconds?"

"Now that's pushing it."

"Are you gonna be okay, Daddy?" Mackenzie's voice has lost it's usual confidence and leaves her sounding like a scared 5 year old.

"Yeah. My doctors just did a scan of my brain to figure out what's wrong. They'll find something eventually."

"I don't think so." Mackenzie's voice has taken on a mischievous tone. "Let's face it… no one _really_ knows what's wrong with the brain's of Marines. They might as well just discharge you now with the instructions for us to make you comfortable." She sits back and waits for her father's reaction. Before she can react, he reaches over to pull her across his lap and starts tickling her. "Eek! No, Daddy, sorry! I didn't mean it! Please stop!" The tickling abruptly stops and she sits up, catching her breath. "Geez, you're a pushover, Dad. Dad?" Mackenzie finally looks up and sees that her father is leaning back against the pillow, breathing deep. Mackenzie leans forward and puts a hand to his face, noting that he's covered in a fine layer of sweat. She immediately jumps off the bed and runs out of the room toward the Diagnostics office.

Bursting in, she looks around for her mom or House, but only finds Chase. She runs up and pulls on his hand, distracting him from his crossword

"Please help me, something's wrong with my dad." She drags him out of the room and into her dad's room. From down the hall, Cameron and Thatcher notice Chase being dragged into a room and rush over to help. Arriving at the room, they find Mackenzie cowering in the corner, while Chase is getting out the supplies to intubate the Captain. He looks up and sees the women.

"He's in respiratory arrest. Give me a hand." Cameron pushes her sister over to help while she goes to Mackenzie and picks her up, carrying her out of the room, soothing her all the way.

* * *

"Okay, duckies, what's new?" House limps into the office at his usual time and tosses his bag into his office before returning to the table, noting the serious faces that they all have. "What happened?" Chase is the first to speak.

"Captain Reed woke up…and went into respiratory failure two hours later."

"We managed to get a CT in before, Foreman is getting the pictures now." Thatcher speaks up. "I'm no neurologist, but his symptoms match up to every part of the brain, not one. He's having reasoning problems, which are controlled by the cerebellum, but he doesn't have any problems speaking or forming words or with his memory. Vision is controlled by the midbrain; the pons controls breathing. The only thing he's not having a problem with is his medulla oblongata."

"That's a good thing, because if he were, then we'd have to declare him brain dead." House writes the new symptoms on the board while Elliot quietly speaks up.

"I won't be accusing, but you might want to get a JAG representation now, Commander Thatcher."

"I've already done that." Thatcher gives her a small smile. "We'll figure this out, Dr. Reed."

Foreman bursts in at that moment and immediately puts the films on a light board. "Got 'em, but they're clean."

"They can't be," Cameron gets up to take a look. "He wouldn't have a machine breathing for him if they were clean." She stands there staring at the scan , not allowing anyone else a clear view. "What's that?" She speaks up suddenly. She points to a small area in the middle of his brain, steeping aside so Foreman can get a glimpse.

"It looks like a lesion, but we would have seen it." Thatcher comes up behind them.

"And it's no where near where I operated." Cameron is thinking hard, and quickly goes to Cpt Reed's file and pulls out the CT scan that he had done in Italy, when the CT was down on the _Kitty Hawk_. She puts it up on the light board next to the new one.

"And it's not on this one." She turns to the others. "This is the one that was done in Italy, when he had the concussion. It's clean. So if it wasn't there before, and it's not anywhere close to where you operated, how did he get it?"

"What if he always had it?" Reed speaks up from the table, causing the others to turn and face her. "Hear me out. He was an active kid, what if it's the result of a head injury that he received as a kid, but it never presented any problems. But when you drained the fluid resulting from the crash, you also drained some of the fluid that's supposed to be there, causing the pressure on it to lessen and causing the lesion to become visible." She turns to Foreman. "Is that even possible?"

"I've never heard of it, but I suppose that it could be possible."

"So why are you still standing here?" House cuts in. "Go do what you have to do to diagnose and correct it."

"I don't know what there is to do. Surgery could remove the lesion."

"Then go schedule surgery." House limps away into his own office taking a seat and putting in his earbuds.

"Is it just me," Chase speaks, "Or does he almost seem happy?"

"There was a definitive absence of sarcasm just now," Foreman supplies. The two men turn toward the three women to get their opinions.

"Don't look at me," Thatcher speaks, "I've spent maybe three total hours in the room with him…he seems the same." The men look to Reed.

"He's my uncle guys, I've seen all sides to him, so I don't separate them…he's just Greg to me." And that leaves Cameron, who manages to control her voice.

"I-" House's voice cuts in from his office.

"Why are you still standing there? I know I told you to leave."

The team quickly scatters in various directions, though Thatcher hangs back a bit, staring after Cameron.

* * *

Angela finds her sister on the roof a few hours later and silently goes to stand beside her.

"Hey, so are you up for having me around for a few more weeks?"

Cameron snaps her head up to face her sister. "I'll never complain about having you around, but why?"

"_Kitty Hawk_ is doing battle maneuvers, no unnecessary traffic to or from the ship. My CO already called Dr. Cuddy and loaned me here until they're done with."

"And when will that be?"

"Nine days. Think you could handle having a roommate? Or will I have the place to myself while you and your new boy toy have sleepovers every night?"

Cameron returns the impish grin that her sister is throwing her way. "No, we won't be having sleepovers every night. We have yet to have even one sleepover."

"Is he blind or stupid? Because any guy that would turn you down-"

"There has been no turning down. We've both agreed to go slow."

"Just because you work in the same hospital, doesn't mean that you work in the same department, so it's not like you'd see him every day and allow things to get weird."

"Right." Cameron returns her gaze to the horizon so her sister won't see the lie in her eyes. "It's just that there are other complications to our relationship, and neither of us want to jeopardize it. It's nice actually…to go slow. David died before I could really get to know him. All that I really knew about him was the 'first date stuff' as you would have put it. I knew that he didn't want his life artificially extended, but I never really knew how he felt about dieing. I actually didn't know how he felt about a lot of stuff."

"Did you love David?"

"Yes…but I don't think that I was _in_ love with him."

"Are you in love with this new guy?" Cameron remains silent for such a long time that Angela begins to feel like she's trying to come up with a way to change the subject. Finally Cameron raises her head and looks her sister straight in the eye.

"Yes. Yes, I am." Cameron laughs softly. "I've known him for three years, and I can't think of a time when I wasn't in love with him."

"And what prompted this? You've been hiding these feelings for so long. What made you realize that you could have this relationship?"

"He invited me to a family wedding. Someone introduced us as boyfriend and girlfriend, and he didn't deny it. And I guess that I made the first move. I just told him that any relationship between us would be worth any risk that he was afraid of. Promise sealed with a kiss." The sisters share a smile.

"I'm happy for you Ally. Out of all of us, you've been through the most, and you've always managed to come out on top. If there's anyone that truly deserves happiness, it's you."

"Thanks, Angie." The pair lean their elbows on the wall and stare out over Princeton before Angela breaks the silence.

"Oh yeah, Alex is going to be here tomorrow."

"Figured. We've never called anyone else when we've needed legal counsel; and for you it's a win-win."

"You gonna warn this new guy to stay away?"

"Haven't decided. You'll both be here on Saturday, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Hospital fundraiser. You guys never pass up the opportunity to embarrass those around you."

"Well then, let the games begin." The two laugh and bump shoulders while staring out at the horizon.


	4. Heart to heart

I recently came to the realization that I've never put in a disclaimer, so here it is, even for ...and other family: Not mine, never will be, all characters belong to some dolt in California (I think), oh well. Original characters are obviously mine, but none others are.

* * *

"Hey." House is surprised to see Cameron standing on the other side of the door. "Can I come in?" He silently steps aside and allows her in.

"I was never able to lie to Angela." Cameron states matter of factly when he closes the door. He walks around to face her.

"Your point?"

"It was easy to hide us from her these past few days - we've both been working constantly - but she's staying here for the next week and a half - with me - and I know that I won't be able to continue keeping this from her."

"I never said that you had to."

"You said that you didn't want people to know."

"I meant Cuddy and Wilson and the rest of the board. I wasn't referring to your family. This explains a lot though."

"What are you talking about?" Cameron follows him to the couch and is about to sit next to him when he pulls her down across his lap.

"You said that you and your family were close. I figured that you'd tell her about us right away and I'd hear from her five minutes later."

"Nah. Alex always played the protector more than Angela did, and _that_ is something that you'll have to deal with."

"What?"

"Elliot suggested that Angie get legal counsel in case anything stems from this."

"But we've cured Jason. The lesion was removed and all of his symptoms are going away."

"There's still the review board and the possibility of an investigation ."

"Alright. Why do I have to worry about your brother?" Cameron stares at him, waiting for him to connect the dots. "Your brother is the Judge Advocate that Angela called, isn't he?"

"Yup. And Alex has always been _very_ protective of us all."

"Who's older? Alex or Angela?"

"He is, by five minutes."

"Two sets of twins with a single in the middle? How did you handle?"

"I have a twin sister, House." House snaps his gaze to her in surprise and is met by a soft smile, which he immediately translates accurately.

"When did she die?"

"When we were 3 days old. We were born at 32 weeks and her lungs weren't fully developed."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I don't even remember her, obviously."

"What was her name?"

"Addison."

"Why weren't her lungs fully developed, but yours were?"

"What makes you think that mine were?"

"You would have said 'our lungs', not 'her lungs'." House pointed out. "What happened?"

"We were identical, but she was 10 ounces lighter. Doctors found a clot in her umbilical cord that prevented her from getting enough nutrients and developing properly." The pair sit silently for what seems like hours to them before Cameron unwraps herself from House's arms and wanders over to his piano. She drags her hand over a few of the lower notes before taking a seat and positioning her fingers over the keys. She starts playing a soft tone and continues talking.

"I don't suppose that it affected my life too much. Mom had professional photos taken of all of us when we were barely a day old. The other four just have the pairs instead of single photos on display, but she still has Addison and mine's double. She gave it to me as my high school graduation gift. I don't even hang it up. My life was normal. I had dance and music lessons, played sports, get into fights with Alex and Angela. Mom and dad never spoke of Addison, until Alex had a daughter. That's what his wife wanted to name her; mom was adamant against it."

"I would have thought that they'd be against it so they'd break the trend of having kids with the initials 'AC'." House tries to lighten the mood with a joke…and succeeds. Cameron stops playing for a second and dips her head down hiding a laugh.

"They broke that trend with Patrick, their son."

"How many nieces and nephews do you have?" House gets up and sits next to her on the piano bench, forcing her to scoot closer to the higher notes, while he takes over on the lower notes, adding to her tune.

"Alex has two boys and a girl: Patrick, 12; Daniel, 9 and Alice, 4 - named after mom, she held Lisa's hand through a 32 hour labor. Angela has a boy and a girl: Aiden, 7 and Ryleigh, who's 3. Adam has a daughter, Caroline, she's 3 months old."

"And Ashley?"

"Is determined to be a dancer. They only get 10-15 years before they're usually forced to retire, so she's going to be taking advantage of all that time that she can."

"So, your parents already have 6 grandkids. How many are you planning on giving them?"

"I always wanted a big family. I loved having so many brothers and sisters around to play with and spend time with. The age gap never really mattered much."

"What is the age gap between all of you?"

"There's seven years between Alex, Angela and I, and nine years between me and Adam and Ashley."

"I wonder how it would feel to be 16 and be told that your parents were expecting again. How old is your mom?"

"Fifty-five. She was 18 when she and dad got married."

"Ah, a high school sweetheart marriage."

"More like childhood sweetheart marriage. Dad's family moved in next door to mom when he was five, she was three, and my grandparents still live in the same houses. We grew up listening to the stories about how grandpa stayed up at night cleaning his shotgun when Dad got his drivers license. Dad went to grandpa when he turned 18, just before he left for school and said that he wanted to marry mom, but wanted to wait until he had finished school. That didn't last long. He came home for Christmas after two years, five weeks later, mom found out she was pregnant, and they were forced to move up their wedding by five years."

"Was your grandfather's shotgun still clean?"

"Yup. Fortunately, Grandma knew that mom was pregnant and she hid the shells."

"Your family sounds like fun."

"They are. Mom is…" Cameron stops to think before continuing, "you'd think she was twenty years younger, by her energy and how she looks. She does _not_ look 55. Dad… dad's everybody's best friend. Family reunions are a hoot. We'll pull out the board games and have all out marathons. Once a game of Monopoly lasted the six days of the reunion, and when we came home four months later for Thanksgiving, it was still set up the way it was before. We finally finished the game New Year's Eve," She looks to House, "The game lasted a total of 17 days." She resumes playing. "We'll play Scrabble, and more time will be spent challenging words than will be spent playing. Adam once put down 'shat', claiming it was the past tense of 'shit'." She hears the music falter and looks over to see House holding in laughter…and failing horribly. "I know. It's ridiculous. But it's my family."

"I'd like to meet them." House stops playing and turns to face Cameron, conveying how serious he is.

"I'd like you to also." She looks at her watch and moves to get up, gathering her coat. "I'd better go. The last thing we need is Angela blabbing to Alex about a 'sleepover' she thinks we're having."

House takes her coat from her and holds it up for her to get into. "You can tell them. Just make sure that they know-"

"I know," she interrupts. "Make sure they know not to say anything at work that can get me reassigned.." She stretches up to give him a kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow.

* * *

"How's your man doing?" Cameron is bombarded by the question before she even shuts the door and takes off her coat. She quickly shrugs it off and sits by her sister on the couch, snagging some of her popcorn.

"He's fine. I was just letting him know that Alex was going to be here tomorrow so he can be prepared."

"How would Alex know who he is? You haven't even told me. I'm not trying to guilt you…but you used to tell me everything."

"I know. It's just that I _really_ want this to work, and the last thing that I need is for you and Alex to scare him off."

"If he really cares about you, that won't happen."

"Yeah." Cameron smiles softly, remembering what she and House discussed earlier.

"What were you guys talking about tonight? It wasn't just warning him about Alex."

"I told him about Addison."

"Really?" Angela puts the popcorn aside and turns fully to face Cameron. "What did he say?"

"Not much. Did his usual inquisitive questions about why I lived and she didn't. Then I told him about mom and dad, how they wound up together. I mentioned the game marathons…he said he wanted to meet the family."

"Really?" This time the word is exclaimed in wonder. "Less than a week after your first date and already he wants to meet the family."

"Why not? I met his two weeks before our first date. Actually I met his two _years_ before our first date…but that was just his mom and dad."

"What are they like?"

"Exactly like mom and dad…and nothing like them at the same time. It's weird, you have to meet them to understand."

"Well, since that'll never happen…" Angela leads off, hoping that Cameron will finish.

"I'm going to bed," she gives her sister a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you in the morning."

"You know I'm going to figure out who he is eventually, right?" Angela calls out after Cameron.

"Goodnight, AngieBear."

"Night AllyKat." The sisters fondly revert to childhood nicknames in goodnights. Angela stares at the closed bedroom door for a moment with a speculative look on her face.

* * *

"Good morning everyone. Is my little sister here?" Angela breezes into the Diagnostics conference room and helps herself to a cup of coffee. Foreman and Chase are prevented from answering when Cameron speaks up from her desk.

"Yes she is. Don't you have a surgery to do?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I've got a hip replacement in an hour. What to do until then?" Angela sips her coffee while staring at her sister, who stares right back, knowing that she's trying to badger Cameron into revealing the secret identity of her new guy.

"It won't work, Angie, so stop trying." Cameron sits down beside her sister and opens up some charts. Before they can get anymore into it, Foreman cuts in, changing the subject.

"What are we going to do this weekend if someone gets up on stage and their voice is horrible?"

"Have House standing in the wings with his cane?" Cameron suggests, not entirely joking. "I'm sure he'd enjoy hooking anyone."

"Not that you have anything to worry about, right Ally?" Cameron shoots her sister a murderous glare, silently threatening her not to say anything more. Chase doesn't take the hint.

"What are you talking about, Dr. Thatcher?"

"You guys have never heard Ally sing before?" Angela's teasing tone is gone, she's dead serious. And dead is what she'll be if the looks that Cameron is sending her could kill. "She had the lead in four musicals when she was younger."

The men look to Cameron and find that the Immunologist is burying her head in her hands "Thanks, Angie." A muffled voice is heard from her.

"How bout a preview, Cameron?" Cameron raises her head to see Foreman smirking after posing his question. With a regretful sigh, she accepts the challenge.

"I'm know I'm going to regret this…what do you want to hear?"

"What's say we just turn on the radio and you sing along to what ever comes up?" Foreman points the stereo remote behind him and turns it on, hearing the final keys of a song before the DJ comes on.

"_Alright, folks, continuing on with our 'Afternoon on Broadway' here's _Seasons of Love_."_

Cameron groans as the first few keys sound for the song from _RENT_, Angela merely smiles more broadly.

"Come on Ally, I'll even sing along." She starts in a low clear voice as the company opener comes on,

"525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear.  
525,600 minutes - how do you measure, measure a year?"

Cameron comes in, with her own rich alto voice, shocking the boys with it's clarity.

"In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.  
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.  
In 525,600 minutes - how do you measure a year in the life?  
How about love? How about love? How about love? Measure in love.  
Seasons of love."

Cameron waves for her sister to take the solo that they know is coming up.

"525,600 minutes! 525,000 journeys to plan.  
525,600 minutes - how do you measure the life of a woman or man?"

The man in the doorway comes in for the second solo, shocking the Cameron sisters,

"In truths that she learned, or in times that he cried. In bridges he burned, or the way that she died." He belts out, allowing the sisters enough time to recover from their shock and continue with the song.

"It's time now to sing out, though the story never ends let's celebrate remember a year in the life of friends.

"Remember the love!"

Cameron sings a bit louder for the coming line, singing along with the woman heard above the rest in the song, "Oh you got to you got to remember"

"Remember the love!"

"You know that love is a gift from up above" Cameron notices House standing in the doorway between his office and the conference room, though she quickly averts her eyes so no one will notice.

"Remember the love! Remember the love!  
Measure in love.  
Seasons of love! Seasons of love."

The music dies and the DJ is heard coming back on, when House limps over and shuts it off. Before the boys can react to the song Cameron jumps to her feet and jumps to wrap her arms around the man who sang along. He leans down to help her and picks her up in a bear hug that lasts for several seconds before putting her down and giving Angela a similar, though not quite as big, a hug.

"Hello ladies. Why is it that every time I see you, I'm pulling your six out of the mud?" He directs at Angela.

"I don't know, why do I always get into trouble for saving the sixes of Marines? It's a vicious circle, Al."

"And I understand congratulations are in order for the new half stripe," Alex continues on as though he didn't hear what Angela said.

"Yeah, I don't have to salute you anymore…nor do I have to show you the respect due a senior officer."

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" The two grin at each other while the two younger men stare blankly at the trio. House fixes himself a cup of coffee like nothing is going on. The three Camerons laugh as though nothing is going on, before facing the rest of the team. Allison takes over the introductions.

"Sorry guys, this is Angie and mine's older brother, Alex."

"Right," Foreman cuts in. "That explains everything." He continues to stare between the two, not understanding the exchange the two military members shared. Cameron takes pity and explains it to them.

"You can't expect a Marine to listen to a Squid, especially if they're putting down the other." Cameron goes to get her brother a cup of coffee. He's takes off his Alpha blouse while watching her.

"There's something different about you, Ally."

Cameron ducks her head hoping to quell the 'glow' everyone seems to be spotting in her, and she subsequently misses the glance Alex directs to Angela, who uses a finger to trace a heart over her left chest and subtly points to their sister. Alex raises his head in a silent _Ahhhh_. He smiles secretively, not bothering to hide it when Cameron turns back to face them. Cameron glances quickly between her brother and sister, realizing that Angela told Alex about the 'new guy'. She hands her brother the coffee and takes a seat, returning to her charting silently. Alex takes pity on her and drops the subject…for now.

"So, I noticed an office marked 'Dr. Lisa Cuddy', but it was empty, and that's who I'm supposed to report to. Any idea where I can find her?"

"Wait a few minutes," Cameron doesn't lift her gaze. "She'll be in here shortly looking for House and badgering him to do his clinic hours."

True to her word, Cuddy bursts in seconds later.

"House! Clinic. Now!"

"But Mo-om!" House takes on the whining voice of a five year old. "I've got a doctor being sued, I need to be here for the attorney."

"What?!" Cuddy faces the Diagnostics team, "Which of you is being sued?"

"None of them, Dr. Cuddy." Angela speaks up, motioning to Alex. "This is the JAG that I called in for Captain Reed's case, for the review board and possible investigation."

"Alright, good to know." Cuddy turns back to House to berate him and finds the spot he was standing in empty. Further examination reveals that his office is also empty. She turns back to the team to find them all hiding smirks, though Alex looks impressed.

"Wow. He's better than most Marines I know…including Recon."

"Don't let them hear you say that." Allison warns him.

"Wasn't he using a cane?"

"Yup, he's missing about half of his thigh muscle."

"And he still moved that quickly and silently? Color me double impressed." Alex takes a moment to revel in House's speed before turning back to Cuddy, pulling a sheaf of papers from his briefcase. "Dr. Lisa Cuddy?" Cuddy recovers from her anger and faces the Marine before her, "I was instructed to report to you." He hands her the papers. "Major Alex Cameron. Reporting as legal counsel for Lieutenant Commander Angela Thatcher. There's a number on those orders that you need to call to let my command at Pearl know that I arrived and reported in." Cuddy takes the paper, and reads over it, starting at the name as is registers. She looks between the three siblings before settling on the one under her employ.

"Do you have any other siblings that will be joining us Dr. Cameron?"

"Nope. The last two are still in college, so I don't think so."

"Very well. Major Cameron, Commander Thatcher, why don't you come with me and we can deal with this." The two follow the dean out of the office and towards the elevators, leaving Cameron alone with the men, who immediately pounce on her musical abilities.

"Where did you learn how to sing like that?" Chase exclaims first.

"Mrs Rawson, 6th grade, chorus. It's not a big deal."

"A voice like that is a big deal, Cameron." Foreman states, Chase sits beside him, silently agreeing. Cameron sees that they aren't planning on leaving her alone and gathers up her paper work and leaves to do it in another spot in the hospital.

* * *

And now you've met Alex, though there wasn't much personality in this chapter. There will be in later ones. I used my family game night experiences for this story. We once had a game of Monopoly that started in August, and lasted through Thanksgiving, Christmas/New Years, and finally ended at Easter. And my big brother really did put down 'shat' as a word in Scrabble.

I've had Seasons of Love stuck in my head for the past two weeks, and amazingly, putting it in the story helped me to get it out of my head.

Read, review and enjoy. I'm working all weekend and registering for summer classes, so I might not post again until Monday.


	5. Heart to heart, deals and set up

I know I said that I wouldn't be updating until Monday, but I got to work this morning and was told that the restaurant I work at is 'no longer in operation', so I've got a ton of time on my hands to write.

This was meant to be a continuation of Heart to heart, but when I realized that I had a good stopping point on the last chapter, I decided to make this one a seperate chapter. To eliminate any confusion, the Cameron siblings are referred to by their first names when they have dinner. And I'm sorry that this chapter is so short, but I'm going to try and make the fundraiser one chapter.

* * *

"This is my hiding spot, no girls allowed." Cameron jumps at hearing House's voice as she enters Coma Guy's room, though she quickly recovers.

"Deal with it. The guys are driving me crazy."

"After a performance like that, can you really blame them?" House pauses his game boy and lowers it. "I have to admit, even though I knew that you could sing, I wasn't expecting that."

"Thank you. I just need to get some charting done. Provided that you leave me alone, it shouldn't take me too long." Cameron wheels the bed table over to her side and throws her paperwork down on it while drawing up a chair.

Noting that she's immersed herself in the charts, House gets up and locks the door, drawing the blinds while he's there. Once done, he limps his way over to Cameron and grabs her paperwork out from her. She stands and protests for a moment before she notices that the blinds are drawn and the grin on House's face can only be described as devious.

"House? What are you doing?"

"Making out with the hottest doctor in the hospital." All further protests are cut off by his lips on hers. After just a moment, Cameron leans into House and returns as good as she's getting. Minutes later, they break apart, gasping for air. "I wanted to do that last night so badly."

"So why didn't you?" Cameron plays with the lapel of his jacket while trying to calm her racing heart.

"Because I knew that it wouldn't stop there."

"And what's to keep it from stopping here?"

"Who's gonna tell?"

Cameron chuckles nervously before taking a small step back, putting some distance between them. When House makes a step to follow, she moves quickly to the side, moving around him and grabbing her work.

"Not here." She moves to the door, but stops after unlocking it, turning back to him. "Your place, tonight?"

"Seven?"

"Sounds good." Cameron smiles at him before leaving; House moves to shut the door behind her and takes his seat, resuming his game.

Outside, Cameron hasn't taken more than a few steps when she's made aware of a presence beside her.

"Enjoy your quickie?" For the second time in less than 10 minutes, Cameron jumps at the unexpected voice of a House.

"No quickies occurred in there, Elliot." Cameron responds as she gets her breathing under control.

"Really?" Elliot doesn't believe her. She motions to the corner of her mouth, "Your lipstick is smudged." Cameron quickly brings her hand up to her lips to rub away at the smudge, silently presenting herself to Elliot for inspection, who simply nods in okay. Cameron walks off, taking note of the jeans and casual blouse that Elliot is wearing as she follows her.

"How's Captain Reed doing?"

"You can call him Jason if you want."

"Same question applies regardless of what I call him."

"He's fine, just a little frustrated. He's going to have to redo the entire flight physical in order to be cleared."

"Is that a problem?"

"The flight physical is difficult, even for 25 year olds fresh out of flight school."

"So for a 35 year old, it be more difficult." Cameron finishes the thought that Elliot can't. "It'll be okay, Elliot. You just have to have a little faith." They've stopped outside the Diagnostics office, which Cameron notices is empty. "I've got some charts to finish, I'll catch up with you later, okay?"

"Yup." Elliot heads to her husband's room, while Cameron heads into the office and sits at her desk, resuming her paperwork.

* * *

"So, little sister…who's the guy?" Alex doesn't waste any time with small talk once their drinks have been delivered. He and Angela sip innocently at theirs, ignoring the death glare that Allison is sending their way.

"Have either of you stopped to think that maybe if you stop harassing me about him, _then_ I'll tell you; but as long as you continue asking me who he is, I won't say a word?"

"No." The two older siblings respond simultaneously. Alex turns to his twin, "You've been here all week, Angie. What doctor has she spent the most time around?"

"Just the team, and Dr. Wilson." Alex looks to Allison with a gleam and a line of questioning evident in his eyes, which she immediately cuts off.

"No. Not Wilson."

"Well, you haven't been seen with anyone outside the department, and you said that he wasn't in your department."

"When did I say that?"

"When-" Angela stops and replays every conversation she's had with her sister and comes up empty, "So he is in you department."

"I never said that either," Allison toys with her sister. "Look, guys. I love you both, but please - _please_ - leave me alone about him. I promise if you stop asking me about him, I'll tell you who it is before you leave."

"Deal." They each stick out a hand, and Allison crosses her arms to shake each of them at the same time.

"Now that that is settled…" Cameron picks up her menu and quickly picks out what she wants before putting down the menu and turning to her sister. "What's going on with the investigation?"

"Nothing at the moment. Bethesda is looking over the reports, and I got a tentative notice for a review board, but it doesn't look like anything will happen, since the Reeds aren't pressing charges."

"Like they would."

"What exactly was wrong with him?" Alex asks, "And remember to speak in non-medical terms."

"He had a lesion on his brain from a childhood injury. Exactly how it managed to present now, when he's in his 30s, I don't know. But it just managed to wreck havoc with his entire brain when it did present. Surgery removed it, and his symptoms returned to normal. Even I don't understand it, but I'm not going to question it."

"Compared to other cases you've told us you've worked," Angela brings up, "This one seemed to resolve just a little too easily."

"I know," the conversation is interrupted when the waiter appears to take their order, but picks right back up when he leaves, "I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Something about this case isn't sitting right with me."

"You seem to be dropping it."

"Foreman has said that there's nothing wrong, and House has even dropped the case - which he never does if he suspects something is wrong. So he obviously believes that the case is over. I have no reason to doubt him."

"Very well. What is going on this weekend? I was thinking we could go rock climbing or something?"

"We could, but it would have to be Sunday. The hospital's annual fundraiser is Saturday night. You two are welcome to attend if you purchase tickets."

"The theme is Karaoke." Angela informs Alex, causing him to match the wicked gleam in she has in her eyes. Allison immediately tries to quell the gleam.

"Just remember that I have to continue to work with these people for the next six months. Please don't do anything too rash."

"Since you said please… How would House react to singing something by _Backstreet Boys_?" Allison buries her head in her hands with a groan, regretting ever telling her siblings about the fundraiser.

* * *

It is said that whenever a setup/practice/dress rehearsal goes really badly, then the final production will go flawlessly and be a hit. _I really hope the reverse isn't true also._ Cameron thinks to herself, supervising the set up for Karaoke night. The reception area for the hospital has been shut down since noon, black drapes hang around the area, blocking the exam rooms and offices from sight. A stage with several microphones on it has been set up along one side of the room, the reception desk has been transformed into a bar. Tables are in place around the spacious room, draped with black table clothes and set with china in a midnight blue and cream design, with matching candles decorating the center pieces.

Cameron checks with the others supervising the set up, making sure that everything went according to plan. Turning to the entrance, she notices the bartenders and wait staff entering and goes to make sure that they have everything they need. Finally she signs off on the area being complete and gathers the others to leave. At the door, she takes one last look back, making sure that everything is in order. Leaving, she glances at her watch and notices that it took a full two hours less to set up than she'd originally planned - set up went flawlessly and without problem. _God I hope that's not a bad sign._ She goes to her car, praying that tonight won't go badly, or worse than previous fundraisers had gone. _Just one night…one night without a case and without House being his usual grating self. And PLEASE don't let Alex and Angela embarrass the staff too much._

* * *

Alright, short chapter, I'm aware of that, but the next one - maybe two - will be longer. Then this story will conclude. And I've got a story line floating around in my head for introducing the two younger Camerons. Let me know if anyone wants to see it happen.


	6. Questions and Revelations

Okay, this chapter came about by a request, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I hope that you enjoy it

* * *

Angela stares at her reflection, making sure that her make up and hair is correct, before heading out of the bathroom. Looking at her watch, she sees that she has another hour before Alex comes to pick her up. She wanders over to the bookcase and sees a couple photos of her sister and her coworker. She glances quickly over one of her and Foreman and Chase and stops on one of her and House. He's in a tuxedo, and she's in a strapless red dress. Looking to the side, she sees a portion of a sign, with enough showing that she's able to figure out that it was taken at another hospital benefit. Neither person knows that the photo was being taken, and it takes Angela only a second to notice how happy her sister was. Her smile is so open and carefree. Noticing, Angela thinks back on the conversations that she had with the diagnostics team the day prior. 

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo **_The day prior_** oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Dr. Foreman, Dr. Chase. How are you two doing?"

"Good." Dr. Chase replies, sitting down. Before Foreman can respond, his pager goes off and he rushes out, mumbling something about a consult.

"Can I ask you something?" Angela sits down across from Chase, who puts down the file he was reviewing and gives the surgeon his full attention. "How's Ally been?"

"In what sense? Work? Personal?"

"Love, life, happiness. We haven't heard too much from her lately. Last anyone heard from her was just before Valentine's Day, after that… We learned years ago to leave her alone around that time, but it always worried us whenever we would hear form her after that."

"Why would Valentine's Day be so depressing for her?" Chase recalls the proposal that his coworker made to him on that day.

"She met David right before Valentine's Day. Her husband." Angela clarifies when she sees the clueless look on his face. "I know that she's seeing someone now, I just can't seem to figure out who. Any ideas?"

"Nope, none." Chase picks up the file once again, trying to prevent any further conversation. Angela doesn't fall for it.

"I realize hearing that your ex has moved on is difficult news," Chase looks up, shocked, "But it can't be worse than hearing that she's not happy."

"How did you-?"

"It's written all over your face every time that she walks into the room. My guess is that she wanted to keep things casual and you wanted more. How far off the mark am I?"

"Not too. But she broke things off before I could voice my desire for more. Even though I knew that she didn't want more."

"And now she is in a serious relationship."

"How do you know that it's serious?"

"What do you know about our family?"

"I knew that she had an older brother, but before you came here…not much."

"Trust me, even if only half of what Ally has told me she's told him is true, than it's serious." Angela stops talking when she sees the muscles in Chase's jaw start working double time. She quickly takes a breath and moves to leave. "Sorry if I've disappointed you. I need to get back to surgery."

Chase manages a tight smile when she leaves, but no other response.

_How Ally fell for someone so prone to jealousy is beyond me._ Angela thought to herself as she gave one last glimpse back at the younger doctor.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Dr. Reed. How's your husband doing?" Angela comes up to Elliot at the nurse's station on the surgical floor. "And what are you doing here?" She hands a file over to the nurse and receives another.

"A patient of mine is having bypass surgery today. I wanted to be here for pre-op. And Jason is doing fine. He's being discharged tomorrow."

"Where's he going after that?"

"He's got three months of convalescent leave, so he'll be home for that. After, he goes before a review board and his status is determined from there."

"Has he put in for any particular assignment?"

"Not yet, but his roommate from flight school teaches there now and he's trying to get him a spot."

"What will happen with you and Mackenzie?"

"He's only got 20 months left on his contract. He was planning on retiring then."

"So it works out perfect for you."

"Yup. So," Elliot closes the file that she was pretending to read while talking to Angela, "What are you fishing for?"

"Excuse me?"

"Come on, you and I both know that the only thing that you and I have in common is Allison. You want to know if I know who her new guy is."

"Do you?"

"Yes, but I'm not going to tell you so you can exploit this loophole that you've found." Elliot walks off purposefully, Angela racing to keep up with her.

"What loophole are you talking about?"

"Come on," Elliot stops next to the bank of elevators and hit's the down button. "Allison made a deal with you and Major Cameron: You stop harassing her about her new guy, and she tells you who it is before you leave. So you decide to harass her coworkers. My guess is, you found out that it was my sister's wedding that she went to with this guy and so you've figured that I'd be a good person to harass. Am I right?"

"About knowing that it was your sister's wedding that she went to: yes; as for choosing to harass you: no. I've already questioned Chase, Foreman's next." Angela notices Elliot get a worried look on her face. "What?"

"Chase knows that Cameron's in a new relationship?"

"Yeah, he didn't seem too happy."

"Duh! A blind man could see that he's still got feelings for her. Make sure that Allison knows that he knows."

"Sure thing." Angela replies while Elliot gets on the elevator and gives her an angry glare as the door closes.

"Smooth move, Commander Thatcher." Is the last thing Angela hears as the door closes. She turns around in exasperation.

"Great. Two that I've managed to piss off." She mumbles to herself as she heads down the hall.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Is this seat taken?" Angela looks up from her plate to see Foreman standing over her with his own tray. She waves her hand in acceptance, clearing away some files for him. "How are you taking to PPTH, Dr. Thatcher?"

"Alright, I suppose. It's only temporary."

"Why exactly are you here? I asked Cameron and she mumbled something about 'battle maneuvers' and 'TAD' before being called off."

"The _Kitty Hawk_ carrier group is going through battle maneuvers. It's just a drill. The higher ups create situations for the crew to deal with. Pilots will have to do a simulated single engine landing, and the air crew on deck will be standing by in gear prepared for a crash landing. Or pilots could be dropped into the ocean so that Search and Rescue can practice rescuing them under more realistic conditions."

"And the 'TAD'?"

"Temporary Additional Duty. No unnecessary flight on or off the ships during maneuvers, so my Commanding Officer loaned me here. It's a win-win, Dr. Cuddy gets an additional surgeon, my staff has to deal with me not being there - which is a simulation that can be created, an indisposed officer - and I get practice in Orthopedics, which is my specialty. Everyone wins." She smiles briefly at him before posing her question, "Not to sound suspicious, but why are you sitting with me?"

"Cameron's helping out in the Immunology lab since we don't have a patient, Reed is with her husband, and Chase seemed particularly peeved, so I didn't bother seeing if he wanted to get lunch. I'd rather not eat alone if I have a choice. I saw you and thought I'd see if you wanted company."

"He's still peeved?" Angela mumbles to herself, "Great."

"You know why Chase is so upset?" Foreman asks, after hearing her, "What happened?"

Angela looks him over and decides that he can be trusted, especially if the stories she's heard from her sister are true. Taking a deep breath, she delves in to the situation.

"I asked him a few questions about how he thought Allison was doing lately, because we hadn't heard much from her in awhile, and I kind of let slip that she was in a new relationship."

"That explains a lot. She's been a lot happier these past few weeks."

"Really?" Angela perks up at this. "That's good. She deserves to be happy. Any clue as to who it could be?"

"Nope. But my money would be on House knowing who it was.

"Yeah, Ally has said that he tends to interpret facial expressions and emotions pretty accurately. Have you ever been a victim of his in that department?"

"More than once. Chase and Cameron have been victims a bit more often though."

"So I've heard." Angela laughs softly and the two fall silent, enjoying their lunches as much as they can. After a moment, Angela breaks the silence. "So, what did you think of the performance yesterday?"

"I had no clue that Cameron could sing like that. I've heard her sing along to music on the radio before, but not like that. Was she really in four musicals?"

"Yup, in high school she was in _Little Shop of Horrors, Grease, _and _RENT_. And she was in _Wicked_ her freshman year of college."

"I've heard of the first three, what's _Wicked_ about?"

"It's a prequel to _The Wizard of Oz_, it's the story of how the Wicked Witch of the West came to be the Wicked Witch of the West, Ally had the part of Elphaba."

"I'm not too familiar with the case, who's Elphaba?"

"The Wicked Witch. She actually did a really good job. That's how she met David, he played Fyero. Don't ask," She says when she sees the confused look pass Foreman's face. "He's the male lead. Anyways, I had better get back to surgery, I've got an ACL repair in a bit."

"Right. Have a good day."

"You too. I'll see you tomorrow night."

Angela gets up and rids herself of her trash before leaving and heading for the elevators. On entering, her finger hovers over the button for the surgical floor before settling on hitting the button for the Diagnostics floor. _I'll stop and see if Ally's in. I need to talk to her anyways._ She gets off when the elevator reaches the proper floor and stops short just outside House's office. She looks in and sees her sister bring House a mug of coffee, remaining by his side with her hand on his shoulder. House looks up at her the moment he feels the contact and delivers her a small, but bright, smile. He asks her a question that Cameron smiles brightly in response to before turning to leave. Her smile is gone and professional appearance is back by the time the door shuts behind her, though another smile appears when she sees Angela.

"Hey. What are you doing on this floor?"

"I wanted to talk to you. I was thinking that we could do preparations for everything tomorrow together."

"Sorry, I'm getting my nails done today, and then I've got to supervise set up tomorrow before hand."

"Oh well, I thought I'd ask." She motions to the office behind her. "What was that about? You two make plans for something?"

"Yeah, orgy at his place Sunday. Think Alex would mind rescheduling the hiking trip?" She hits the call button for the elevator and turns back to her sister, grinning when she sees the expression on her face. "Relax Angie, that was a joke."

"Right," Angie takes a deep breath. "Seriously, what was that about?"

"Ahh, nothing. We just made plans to go to the fundraiser together. Foreman and Chase have got new girlfriends and neither of us wanted to go alone." They board the elevator and Cameron hits the button for the surgical floor. "So we made plans to go together."

"Right. Have you spoken with Adam of Ashley lately?"

"Yeah, Ashley's freaking out because of the summer session and Adam is making plans to spend the summer in Hawaii with some research lab there."

"Great, so we can visit two siblings this summer and get a killer vacation out of the deal."

"I think they'll be on different islands sis."

"So what? None of the islands are more than a 30 minute plane ride from the others, it'll still be a great vacation."

"Right," Cameron laughs as the door opens on the surgical floor. Angela gets off and turns back to her sister,

"Aren't you coming?"

"Why? I'm an Immunologist, not a surgeon, what purpose would I have on this floor? I was just providing you with some company. I'll see you later." The two smile at each other while Cameron leans against the wall after hitting the button for her own floor.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo **_Back to Present _**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Angela looks at the photo once again, remembering the carefree smile that was on her sister's face yesterday and realizing that it matches up to the one on the photo. She turns at a knock on the door, but before she can open it, it opens by itself, with Alex following Cameron in. The older is wearing his Blue Dress Bravos while the younger is carrying her bag over her arm, which she deposits with her coat on the couch.

"Hey guys. Ally are you okay?"

"Yeah. You guys go on ahead. I'll see you guys there."

"How did set up go?" Alex questions her.

"You know the superstition that the worse a rehearsal goes, the better the show will be?" Her siblings nod silently, "I _really_ hope that the opposite isn't true." She heads back into her bedroom, shouting over her shoulder, "Just promise me that you two won't do anything too bad!"

Being in the bedroom, she misses the evil grins that her siblings are sharing, "Sure thing, Ally!" Angela shouts back to her. "We'll see you there!" She grabs her brother's arm and drags him out before Allison can say anything else.

As soon as the door shuts, Cameron returns from the bedroom, "Guys-" she stops at seeing the empty room.

"They're going to embarrass the hell out of me, aren't they?" She says to herself before returning to the bedroom to get dressed.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Slight change of plans Alex. House is the new guy."

"Really?!" Alex looks thougthful for a minute. "I know just what to do."

* * *

Alright, there you go. I _promise_, the fundraiser will be in the next chapter. Read, review and enjoy. 


	7. Secrets Revealed

So, I sat down after mom's birthday dinner and started writing. Next thing I knew, 90 minutes had passed and I had 20 pages. Granted, most are lyrics, but still...dang...for me anyways. Thanks to Psycho Strider for the lyrics to _For Good_ (if not for them, that song wouldn't have been in, and it really packs a punch to the story, though you have to hear the song to get the full impact of it's words.) Read review and enjoy. oh yeah, and I found out after posting that half the songs are single spaced and half are double...nothing I could do about it. So to eliminate confusion (hopefully), the song lyrics are in _italics_.

* * *

Cameron stood in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom looking over her ensemble. The event was not a formal event by previous fundraiser standards, but it had been decided that it was still a dress-up occasion. Which left Cameron standing in 2 ½ inch black stiletto heels, and a black spaghetti strap dress that should have been illegal to wear. The dress hung snugly to every curve of her body, and it had a slit up to her thigh on the left side. Her make-up was a bit darker than she would have normally worn, with a deep berry shade of lipstick rather than her usual lighter color. She wore her hair down in loose curls around her shoulders, with small clips holding small amounts up on the sides.

She hears the knock on her door and quickly grabs her coat and purse, throwing them both on the couch as she goes to answer the door. Opening it, she finds House standing around, though he lifts his gaze to her when he sees the door open and promptly allows his jaw to drop to the ground, causing Cameron to smile sweetly and slightly self-conscious.

She takes in the dark suit, matching shirt and dark red tie before stepping forward to unnecessarily straighten it, giving him a second to compose his thoughts. Finally, she steps back, placing a finger on his chin and closing his mouth. The contact seems to snap him out of his daze.

"God, Allison. I don't think I'd ever need any more Vicodin if you were to walk around dressed like that all the time."

"Good to know." She reaches behind her to grab her coat, causing him to follow her in. She turns to find him with his cane hooked in his left elbow, reaching for her coat. He takes it and eases it onto her shoulders for her. She turns as he wraps his arms around her and rests his forehead against hers.

"I vote for forgetting the fundraiser and staying here tonight." He whispers to her.

"As much as I would love that, I don't think that it would be good for our images." Cameron tries to make light of the situation and fails miserably, as her voice catches at his close proximity to her.

"And the last thing that we need is for your brother and sister to be spreading stories." House reluctantly pulls away and offers her his arm, which she gladly accepts and follows him out, locking her door behind her.

"Yeah, about them. Something tells me that they know about you and me."

"Why do you say that?"

"Just their behavior when they left tonight. They were using their scheming voices. They've got something planned for tonight, and I'm not so sure that it would be a good thing."

"Well, maybe we can stay a step ahead of them."

"How so?"

"Would you object to letting people know about us?"

Cameron stares at him, shocked, "I thought you said-"

"I know what I said, now I'm saying something new." He stops her just inside the door leading to the street. Using his finger, he lifts her chin so that their gaze meets. "What do you say?"

Cameron smiles and bites her lip in nervousness before silently nodding her head, "But only if it's necessary. I'd rather let people know about us by us, rather than by my siblings."

"Fair enough." He opens the door for her and follows her out and down the stairs to his corvette. He opens the door for her and helps her in, ignoring the open stares of all male passersby that are undoubtedly wondering how such an old guy landed such a hot young woman.

oOoOoOoOoOo

The Diagnostics team are standing around by their table, joined by the Camerons and Captain Reed - who was given special permission to be present, as long as he took it easy.

"So," Elliot starts out conversationally, "What kind of embarrassment can we expect from the two of you this evening?" She directs toward the Camerons, who smile with false innocence in return.

"Please, do you actually think that we would do something like that?"

"Uh, yeah!" Elliot scoffs at the two of them. "I heard about what happened in the conference room this week; I wouldn't hold it past you two to do something crazy and embarrassing tonight. Wouldn't you agree, Jason. Jason?" She shakes her husband's arm to get him attention, and he glances at her before returning his gaze to the entrance.

"Alright, I love you to death, Ellie, but _damn_, Dr. Cameron looks good."

"Hey guys." House and Cameron appear before the rest of the group can search them out and the jaws of all the males in the vicinity promptly hit the floor. Alex is staring off the to side, trying not to stare at his sister.

"Damn, Ally," Angela takes over. "You look good."

"Thank you." She turns to Chase and Foreman, who are still staring at her, completely ignoring their dates. "I think your dates are getting jealous, boys."

"Uh-huh." They both mumble, before being startled out of it by elbows to their sides from their dates. Foreman is the first to recover, while Chase directs his attention to the stage, where Dr. Cuddy has approached the microphone.

"You look nice, Cameron."

"Thank you." They turn to the stage as the Dean begins speaking.

"Good evening everyone, welcome to this year's hospital fundraiser. The proceeds from tonight will be going towards funding for new equipment for our radiology department - and remember that the reason for this is due to Dr. House destroying our MRI machine last year, so feel free to embarrass him all you want." She pauses to allow the staff present to chuckle slightly, whereas House does his best to look invisible. "You all received instructions on how tonight will go, so without further ado, let's get started. The first song has already been requested, so…Dr. Foreman, get up here."

Foreman reluctantly makes his way up to the stage and takes the microphone from Cuddy, waiting for the music to come on. It turns out to be some strange techno beat that no one can recognize, though everyone recognizes the groan that comes from Foreman when he sees the words come up on screen. Laughs swell around the room as he starts singing.

_"I'm too sexy for my love too sexy for my love _

_Love's going to leave me _

_I'm too sexy for my shirt too sexy for my shirt _

_So sexy it hurts" _

A few catcalls are heard from the back of the room, fueling his enthusiasm to continue.

_"And I'm too sexy for Milan_

_too sexy for Milan New York and Japan_

_And I'm too sexy for your party_

_Too sexy for your party_

_No way I'm disco dancing"_

To accent his point Foreman pulled a John Travolta move from Saturday Night Fever and sent the women screaming again. Now he was really enjoying the attention, starting to act out all the little words from the song

_"I'm a model you know what I mean_

_And I do my little turn on the catwalk_

_Yeah on the catwalk on the catwalk yeah_

_I do my little turn on the catwalk  
I'm too sexy for my car too sexy for my car  
Too sexy by far And I'm too sexy for my hat_

_Too sexy for my hat what do you think about that  
I'm a model you know what I mean  
And I do my little turn on the catwalk_

_Yeah on the catwalk on the catwalk yeah_

_I shake my little tush on the catwalk"_

Now Foreman was strutting across stage showing his model moves. He glanced down at his date who was practically rolling on the floor laughing at his antics.

_"I'm too sexy for my, too sexy for my, too sexy for my,  
'Cos I'm a model you know what I mean  
And I do my little turn on the catwalk_

_Yeah on the catwalk on the catwalk yeah_

_I shake my little touche on the catwalk  
I'm too sexy for my cat too sexy for my cat  
Poor pussy poor pussy cat_

_I'm too sexy for my love too sexy for my love_

_Love's going to leave me And I'm too sexy for this song"_

His big finish was to toss the mic in the air and catch it behind his back. The crowd erupted in applause and he took a sweeping bow. He handed the mic off to Cuddy as she approached, trying to regain control of herself while looking down at the note card that has the list of requests thus far.

"Now, ladies, it's time for the lone female in Diagnostics to take the stage. Dr. Cameron, your turn."

Cameron sends a quick glance back to her siblings before taking her place on stage. In the moment before the music starts, she glances around the room, trying to find the guilty party responsible for putting her on stage, but finds none, and decides to give herself over to the song, recognizing the tune as soon as the first note plays.

_"I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined_

_I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned_

_Staring at the blank page before you_

_Open up the dirty window_

_Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find_

_Reaching for something in the distance_

_So close you can almost taste it_

_Release your inhibitions_

_Feel the rain on your skin_

_No one else can feel it for you_

_Only you can let it in_

_No one else, no one else_

_Can speak the words on your lips_

_Drench yourself in words unspoken_

_Live your life with arms wide open_

_Today is where your book begins_

_The rest is still unwritten_

_Oh, oh, oh_

_I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines_

_We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way_

_Staring at the blank page before you_

_Open up the dirty window_

_Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find_

_Reaching for something in the distance_

_So close you can almost taste it_

_Release your inhibitions_

_Feel the rain on your skin_

_No one else can feel it for you_

_Only you can let it in_

_No one else, no one else_

_Can speak the words on your lips_

_Drench yourself in words unspoken_

_Live your life with arms wide open_

_Today is where your book begins_

_Feel the rain on your skin_

_No one else can feel it for you_

_Only you can let it in_

_No one else, no one else_

_Can speak the words on your lips_

_Drench yourself in words unspoken_

_Live your life with arms wide open_

_Today is where your book begins_

_The rest is still unwritten_

_Staring at the blank page before you_

_Open up the dirty window_

_Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find_

_Reaching for something in the distance_

_So close you can almost taste it_

_Release your inhibitions_

_Feel the rain on your skin_

_No one else can feel it for you_

_Only you can let it in_

_No one else, no one else_

_Can speak the words on your lips_

_Drench yourself in words unspoken_

_Live your life with arms wide open_

_Today is where your book begins_

_Feel the rain on your skin_

_No one else can feel it for you_

_Only you can let it in_

_No one else, no one else_

_Can speak the words on your lips_

_Drench yourself in words unspoken_

_Live your life with arms wide open_

_Today is where your book begins_

_The rest is still unwritten_

_The rest is still unwritten_

_The rest is still unwritten_

_Oh, yeah, yeah"_

About halfway through the song, Cameron really let loose and sang out in a way that would put the original artist to shame, shocking everyone in the audience. No one could believe that the quiet immunologist had such a voice in her.

As soon as the last note sounded, Cameron returned the mike to the stand and returned to her table. The department took their seats around the table, while Cuddy called one of the nurses from the clinic up to the stage to sing "Maneater" by Hall and Oates.

Every one looked on, surprised, as House held out Cameron's chair for her before taking his own seat. Oblivious to the history of the doctors at the table, Chase's date speaks up,

"The two of you make such a cute couple. Honestly, I don't understand why people are so concerned with age differences in couples. Look at the two of you, you manage to make it work."

"Who said that we were a couple?" Cameron tries to cover up, "we just didn't want to come to this thing alone, so we decided to come together."

"Oh, sorry." The woman tried to backpedal, "It's still true, you two do make a cute couple." She doesn't notice the embarrassed faces from the main members of the Diagnostics team. Alex and Angela are smiling mischievously, while Elliot and Jason look like they don't care. They are distracted when they hear Cuddy call for House to come up on stage. Before anyone can laugh, she also calls for Cameron, Angela and Elliot to join him.

"Now, everyone, rumor has it that House has finally found a woman that can put up with him with the potential for long-term, and while she might not be here, we can have him sing this song for her." She hands House the mic and positions him at the front of the stage while the three women take their places to sing back up.

_"Your lights are on, but you're not home_

_Your mind is not your own_

_Your heart sweats, your body shakes_

_Another kiss is what it takes"_

No one notices Cameron's face turn red at the words - they're all too busy laughing at House's discomfort at singing Robert Palmer's 'Addicted to love', so she continues swaying to the music with the other three and singing along with him.

_"You can't sleep, you can't eat_

_There's no doubt, you're in deep_

_Your throat is tight, you can't breathe_

_Another kiss is all you need_

_Whoa, you like to think that you're immune to the stuff, oh yeah_

_It's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough_

_You know you're gonna have to face it, you're addicted to love"_

House zeros in on Wilson in the crowd, convinced that he's the one that put him up to it, but through his laughter, Wilson manages to shake his head to indicate that he didn't request this.

_"You see the signs, but you can't read_

_You're runnin' at a different speed_

_Your heart beats in double time_

_Another kiss and you'll be mine, a one track mind_

_You can't be saved_

_Oblivion is all you crave_

_If there's some left for you_

_You don't mind if you do_

_Whoa, you like to think that you're immune to the stuff, oh yeah_

_It's closer to the truth to say you can't get enough_

_You know you're gonna have to face it, you're addicted to love"_

Knowing the final lines, House turns to glare at Elliot and the other two. Elliot's face is unreadable, and Angela is too busy singing along to have a care as to what House would think.

_"Might as well face it, you're addicted to love_

_Might as well face it, you're addicted to love_

_Might as well face it, you're addicted to love_

_Might as well face it, you're addicted to love_

_Might as well face it, you're addicted to love"_

House gets the final verse out and moves to get off the stage as quickly as possible when he's stopped by Cuddy's hand on his sleeve.

"Hold on a minute, House. You ladies may return to your seats. Dr. House, you stay. And…" she turns to the audience, reading names off the card in her hand, "I need Drs Wilson, Foreman, Chase, Sanders, Parker, Bounds, and Major Cameron and Captain Reed to join Dr. House." She waits patiently as the other eight men join House. "Given that we don't have nine microphones, you men will just have to share." Three microphones are brought to the front and the men wait for the music to start. Once again, the crowd laughs as the music to a classic Billy Joel song comes on.

_"Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television, North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe Rosenbergs, H-bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom, Brando, "The King and I" and "The Catcher in the Rye" Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen, Marciano, Liberace, Santayana, goodbye We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No we didn't light it But we tried to fight it… Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev, Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc, Roy Hn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, dacron, Dien Bien Phu falls, "Rock Around the Clock," Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's, got a winning team, Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland, Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Krushchev, Princess Grace, "Peyton Place", trouble in the Suez We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No we didn't light it But we tried to fight it… Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac, Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, "Bridge on the River Kwai," Lebanon, Charlse de Gaulle, California baseball, Starkweather, homicide, children of thalidomide, Buddy Holly, "Ben Hur", space monkey, Mafia Hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy, Chubby Checker, "Psycho", Belgians in the Congo We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No we didn't light it But we tried to fight it… Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land" Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion "Lawrence of Arabia", British Beatlemania, OLE MISS, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson, Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex, JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again, Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline, Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan "Wheel of Fortune", Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide, Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, crack, Bernie Goetz Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law, Rock and roll, the cola wars, I can't take it anymore We didn't start the fire It was always burning Since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No we didn't light it But we tried to fight it…"_ a classic guy song, which every one of the men on stage throw their hearts into - including House.

"Alright," Cuddy takes the stage after the men return to their tables, "We're going to take a short break now, but I'm going to warn you that House, you've been requested for another, as have you, Dr. Cameron."

At their table, House and Cameron groan and roll their eyes, turning to her siblings, who can't hide their grins fast enough. Cameron is obviously thinking hard before she decides not to say anything and gets up to get another drink; House sees her head to the bathrooms after retrieving her drink, and he goes up to get his own drink before following Cameron to the restrooms. Cameron is waiting for him in the hallway outside the bathrooms.

"I've changed my mind. I don't want to let people know about us." She holds up her hand to silence him before he can say anything. "It's not because I want to keep this relationship a secret, it's because I want to let people know on our terms, not Alex and Angela's."

"So what do we do?" House shocks Cameron with his ready acceptance.

"For now, let's just sing whatever they send us up there to sing, and I'm sure that I can think of a few embarrassing songs for them to perform. I was planning on having Chase do one of them, but I think I can sign Alex up for it instead. And I'll deal with them. They're just trying to get a rise out of me because I told them that if they left me alone about my 'new guy' then I'd tell them who he was before they left." She unclenches marginally before frowning in his direction. "Do you have a problem with this?"

"No. I don't want you to be unhappy with this relationship, so what ever you want to do, I'll do." Cameron smiles softly before glancing over his shoulder and then back over hers. Insuring that they're alone in the hallway, she leans in to give him a soft kiss, pulling away before either could deepen and continue it to the point where they'd have to out themselves.

"Thank you." She whispers to him as she pulls away. Reaching up, she wipes off a bit of lipstick from the corner of his mouth before taking his arm and leading him back to the party. Entering the room, they see that someone has brought a piano in and parked it on the stage. They look to each other slightly worried before he heads to their table, while she goes to the requests table and places a few before returning to the table. The others are prevented from questioning them when Cuddy returns to the stage.

"Alright, I told you that Dr House has been requested again, so I'd like for him to please join me." While he's making his way up to the stage, she continues talking, "And it has also been requested that House play a portion of the music himself." Once he's gotten to the stage, she hands him the sheet music, leaving while he takes a moment to look over it. Not lifting his eyes from the page, he speaks directly into the mic,

"At the rate I'm going, I might as well camp out on the stage so I don't have to keep coming up here." He doesn't give the audience a chance to respond when he lays the music out and starts playing the simple tune, picking up with the words at the right moment, and not noticing when the rest of the music comes on.

_"I'm 15 for a moment  
Caught in between 10 and 20  
And I'm just dreaming  
Counting the ways to where you are"_

House remembers his own teenage years, remembering his time in Japan, when he decided to become a doctor.

_"I'm 22 for a moment  
She feels better than ever  
And we're on fire  
Making our way back from Mars"_

Cuddy stares at him from her position on the sidelines, remembering when she first met House when she was a naïve college student.

_"15 there's still time for you  
Time to buy and time to lose  
15, there's never a wish better than this  
When you only got 100 years to live_

_I'm 33 for a moment  
Still the man, but you see I'm a they  
A kid on the way  
A family on my mind"_

It's Cameron's turn to reflect on where she is and how she's no where near where she planned on being, but when she stare up at the man on stage, she realizes that she's on her way toward getting there.

_"I'm 45 for a moment  
The sea is high  
And I'm heading into a crisis  
Chasing the years of my life"_

House breaks his concentration for a moment and stares out at the crowd, searching for Cameron. He meets her gaze and delivers her a small smile - barely noticeable to anyone but them - before returning his concentration to the instrument in front of him for the last half of the song.

_"15 there's still time for you  
Time to buy, Time to lose yourself  
Within a morning star  
15 I'm all right with you  
15, there's never a wish better than this  
When you only got 100 years to live_

_Half time goes by  
Suddenly you're wise  
Another blink of an eye  
67 is gone  
The sun is getting high  
We're moving on..._

_I'm 99 for a moment  
Dying for just another moment  
And I'm just dreaming  
Counting the ways to where you are_

_15 there's still time for you  
22 I feel her too  
33 you're on your way  
Every day's a new day..._

_15 there's still time for you  
Time to buy and time to choose  
Hey 15, there's never a wish better than this  
When you only got 100 years to live."_

Moving as quickly as he can, House gets to his feet and leaves the stage, ignoring the true applause that the crowd is delivering him. He bumps into Cuddy, breaking her of the trance that she was in, and she stares down at the next card in her hand, breaking into a grin at seeing what the next song is and who will be singing it. She still has the grin on her face when she takes the stage, worrying everyone in the audience, causing them to fidget slightly, hoping that she won't be calling on them.

"Dr. Chase," there is a collective sigh of relief throughout the room, "please come up here." Once he's arrived on stage, Cuddy just silently hands him the microphone, shaking her head at him in sympathy. Chase listens intently as the music comes on, though he doesn't recognize the tune, but a few do, and the giggles start just as the words come up and he starts singing.

_"I'm bringin' sexy back  
Them other boys don't know how to act!  
I think it's special what's behind your back.  
So turn around and I'll pick up the slack!  
(Take em' to the bridge!)"_

The laughter begins to swell, causing Chase to turn beet red, though he quickly covers it and throws himself into singing Justin Timberlake's _Sexy Back_.

_"Dirty babe... You see these shackles? Baby I'm your slave  
I'll let you whip if I misbehave!  
It's just that no one makes me feel this way  
(Take em' to the chorus!)_

_Come here girl!  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
Come to the back  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
VIP!  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
Drinks on me  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
Let me see what ya tworkin' with  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
Look at those hips!  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
You make me smile  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
Come here child!  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)_

_Get your sexy on  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)_

_I'm bringin' sexy back  
Them motherers (Chase is silent during this point) dont' know how to act!  
Girl let me make up for the things you lack  
'Cause you're burnin' up I gotta get it fast!  
(Take em' to the bridge!)_

_Dirty babe...  
You see these shackles? Baby i'm your slave  
I'll let you whip if I misbehave!  
It's just that no one makes me feel this way_

_(Take em' to the chorus!)  
Come here girl!  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
Come to the back  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
VIP!  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
Drinks on me  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
Let me see what ya tworkin' with  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
Look at those hips!  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
You make me smile  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
Come here child!  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)_

_Get your sexy on  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)_

_You ready?  
You ready?  
You ready?_

_Uh (yeah)_

_I'm bringin' sexy back  
You mothaers watch how I attack  
If that's your girl, better watch your back  
'Cause she'll burning up for me for me, and that's a fact_

_(Take em' to the chorus!)_

_Come here girl!  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
Come to the back  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
VIP!  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
Drinks on me  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
Let me see what ya workin' with  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
Look at those hips!  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
You make me smile  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)  
Come here child!  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)_

_Get your sexy on  
(Go 'head be gone with it!)_

_You ready? (Yes)  
You ready? (Yes)  
Yes"_

The catcalls are out full force by the time the last note dies, and Chase delivers an exaggerated bow, before handing the microphone over to Cuddy, who is coming up with the next request.

"Surprisingly, this next request involves one doctor that is not a doctor here. Dr. Thatcher, would you and Dr Cameron please come up here?" Once the sisters have arrived, Cuddy hands them the microphones and speaks softly to them, "The song is called, _For Good_, apparently it's a duet, I'll let the two of you fight for who gets which part." She leaves the two, who hold a quick conversation, before nodding for the music to begin.

Cameron takes a deep breath to calm her nerves, remembering the last time that she sung this song…just before her husband died.

"_I'm limited:_

_Just look at me -_

_I'm limited_

_And just look at you -_

_You can do all I couldn't do, Glinda_

_So now it's up to you_

_(spoken) For both of us_

_(sung) Now it's up to you"_

Angela gives her sister a reassuring smile, knowing what this song means to her before starting on her own part.

_"I've heard it said_

_That people come into our lives for a reason_

_Bringing something we must learn_

_And we are led_

_To those who help us most to grow_

_If we let them_

_And we help them in return_

_Well, I don't know if I believe that's true_

_But I know I'm who I am today_

_Because I knew you_

_Like a comet pulled from orbit_

_As it passes a sun_

_Like a stream that meets a boulder_

_Halfway through the wood_

_Who can say if I've been changed for the better?_

_But because I knew you_

_I have been changed for good"_

Cameron:

_"It well may be_

_That we will never meet again_

_In this lifetime_

_So let me say before we part_

_So much of me_

_Is made of what I learned from you_

_You'll be with me_

_Like a handprint on my heart_

_And now whatever way our stories end_

_I know you have re-written mine_

_By being my friend_

_Like a ship blown from its mooring_

_By a wind off the sea_

_Like a seed dropped by a skybird_

_In a distant wood_

_Who can say if I've been changed for the better?_

_But because I knew you"_

Angela:

_"Because I knew you"_

_The entire room is silent as they listen to the sisters' low, clear voices._

BOTH

_"I have been changed for good"_

Cameron:

_"And just to clear the air_

_I ask forgiveness_

_For the things_

_I've done you blame me for"_

Angela:

_"But then, I guess we know_

_There's blame to share"_

BOTH

_"And none of it seems to matter anymore"_

Angela/Cameron:

_"Like a comet pulled/Like a ship blown_

_From orbit as it/Off it's mooring_

_Passes a sun,/like By a wind off the_

_A stream that meets/Sea, like a seed_

_A boulder, half-way/Dropped by a_

_Through the wood/Bird in the wood_

BOTH

_Who can say if I've been changed for the better?_

_I do believe I have been changed for the better?"_

Angela:

_"And because I knew you"_

Cameron:

_"Because I knew you"_

BOTH

_"Because I knew you: I have been changed for good."_

There is total silence when the song ends, giving the sisters time to give each other a hug on stage. Cameron leans in to her sister to whisper in her ear through her tears,

"You're gonna have to explain why you requested that one."

"Sure thing sis." They part at the applause, once again full and genuine, just as it was for House.

They exit the stage and move to head toward their table, but Angela stops Cameron and nods her head in the direction behind her. Cameron turns and sees House standing there, who approaches the sisters and directs his comment to Cameron.

"According to Cuddy, we're after the next performer."

Cameron leans around the corner and gets her brother's attention, beckoning him to join them. Once he's arrived, she grabs her siblings by the ears and drags them behind the curtains where she knows there's an exam room, beckoning for House to join them. She closes the door to the exam room, blocking out the sound of Wilson singing _Dancing Queen_.

"Alright, we need to get some things out on the table." Cameron releases her siblings ears. "I know that you guys know that House is my new boyfriend, why else would you guys request the songs that you have thus far. And just to let you know, Alex, you were supposed to sing _Sexy Back_ not Chase."

"Thank you for that," Alex rubs at the ear that his sister used to drag him in while thanking her gratefully for not putting him on stage.

"You're welcome." Cameron smiles sweetly at him, going to one of the drawers to get a couple of ice packs out for them, not stopping talking. "But you guys need to stop, now. House is my boss - which will never stop me from pursuing this relationship - but we need to tread carefully. I've only got six months left on my fellowship, and we can keep it to ourselves for now, but you guys have to stop giving everyone that we work with clues like the ones you're giving. And that includes," she turns to Angela, pointing a finger accusingly, "questioning my colleagues about my new relationship. It's none of their business."

"Dr Reed seems to have made it her business." Angela stated.

"Dr. Reed…is House's niece. If it weren't for her, Greg and I wouldn't be here together. It's nice having someone around that I _can_ talk to about my relationship issues. And yes, we do have issues. Greg and I both have horrible luck when it comes to relationships. You guys know about mine, and I'll leave it to him to tell you about his. So _please_, I'm begging you. Stop."

"Alright, but it's too late for us-" Alex tries to explain, but is cut off by Allison

"We will sing the last song you've requested, but no more from the two of you. Deal?"

"Deal." They both stick out their right and left hands, and Cameron crosses her hands over to shake both at the same time. She doesn't let go after shaking,

"And guys…let me tell Mom and Dad. You don't even mention my being in a relationship when you speak to them next. And Angela, no telling Derek; Alex, no telling Melissa. Cool?"

"Alright." They both respond. Allison motions to the door with her head, indicating the men leave her and Angela alone. Once the door is shut, Cameron turns to her sister.

"Why'd you request _For Good_?"

"You need to get over your past before you can really move on with House. We both know when the last time we sung that song was."

"Thank you." The sisters share a hug before joining the men outside, just in time to hear the last notes of Wilson, and all the catcalls accompanying it. They return to the stage in time to hear Cuddy introduce them.

"…I've been told that this is the last time that you will have to listen to this pair tonight, so once again, let's welcome Dr Cameron and Dr. House." She steps aside for the pair, who decide to sit on the stools provided, since she knows that House's leg must be bothering him. A soft tune starts up, which Cameron recognizes, but House doesn't.

Cameron:

_"We were strangers  
Starting out on a journey  
Never dreaming  
What we'd have to go through  
Now here we are  
And I'm suddenly standing  
At the beginning with you"_

House takes over when he sees 'part 2' appear on the screen.

_"No one told me  
I was going to find you  
Unexpected  
What you did to my heart  
When I lost hope  
You were there to remind me  
This is the start"_

Both  
_"Life is a road  
And I want to keep going  
Love is a river  
I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road  
Now and forever  
Wonderful journey_

_I'll be there  
When the world stops turning  
I'll be there  
When the storm is through  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you"_

Cameron  
_"We were strangers  
On a crazy adventure"_

House

_"Never dreaming  
How our dreams would come true"_

Both

_"Now here we stand  
Unafraid of the future  
At the beginning with you_

_Life is a road  
And I want to keep going  
Love is a river  
I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road  
Now and forever  
Wonderful journey_

_I'll be there  
When the world stops turning  
I'll be there  
When the storm is through  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you_

_I knew there was somebody somewhere  
Like me alone in the dark  
Now I know my dream will live on  
I've been waiting so long  
Nothing's gonna tear us apart_

_Life is a road  
And I want to keep going  
Love is a river  
I wanna keep flowing  
Life is a road  
Now and forever  
Wonderful journey_

_I'll be there  
When the world stops turning  
I'll be there  
When the storm is through  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you_

_Life is a road and I wanna keep going  
Love is a river I wanna keep going on...  
Starting out on a journey  
Life is a road and I wanna going  
Love is river I wanna keep flowing  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you."_

As the last word dies off each of their tongues, they quickly divert their gazes, so the audience won't know the truth behind their statements, and then they each head off the stage.

Cameron catches House as he trips on his way off. He tries to shake her off, but she grasps his arm tighter, and steers him back towards the exam room again.

"Are you okay with how things went tonight?" She asks him as soon as the door shuts. She turns to face him and gets an answer in the form of a searing kiss, which she quickly returns after overcoming her initial shock. Parting, House pulls her into a gentle, loving hug, resting his chin on her head.

"Would it be incredibly cheesy if I quoted that song as my answer?"

"Yes." Cameron answers with a smile. She leans back slightly and tilts her head up to stare into his eyes. "Whenever you want to tell people, we can."

"Okay. Let's just go and enjoy the rest of the evening…now that we have your siblings taken care of."

"Deal."

Once the door is open, they remove themselves from the others' arms, and return to their table.

Knowing what undoubtedly happened, Elliot attempts to divert the attention off of the couple.

"So, Greg…orgy at your place tomorrow?"

Everyone at the table - House and Cameron included - groan at the comment made by the Cardiologist and trade disgusted looks. Though House and Cameron do throw a grateful look in her direction.

* * *

I thought this was a good stopping point, but there will be a little epilogue, and I'm thinking of another story to introduce the rest of the Cameron siblings (and maybe the parents...depending on how I feel.)

_"I'm too sexy" belongs to Right Said Fred,"Maneater" belongs to Darryl Hall and John Oates. "Addicted to love" belongs to Robert Palmer and his back up girls. "We Didn't start the fire" is Billy Joel's, "Dancing Queen" belongs to ABBA,100 Years' belongs to Five for Fighting, 'Sexy Back' belongs to Justin Timberlake, 'At the Begining' belongs to Richard Marx and Donna Lewis, 'Unwritten' belongs to Natasha Bedingfield._


	8. Epilogue

I promised a short epilogue, and here it is. No guarantees for when the next story will come out, if it even does. Let's see if the muses strike... anyways, enjoy.

* * *

The evening went on for several more hours. The female staff got a request for "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" from Cindy Lauper. People sang everything from the Dixie Chicks "Goodbye Earl" to having Cuddy do her own rendition of Tina Turners "Proud Mary". Alex was called up to do a solo for Green Day's "Wake me up when September ends". House was probably called up by almost every person there, and he alone raised around five thousand dollars for the hospital. True to their threat, the Cameron siblings did call him up - alone with four other male doctors - with a Backstreet Boys request.

In total, the event raised an estimated $50,000, and when it came time to leave, no one questioned when House and Cameron left together, though their path was followed by two particular guests. Two guests that didn't give it a second thought when they arrived at Cameron's apartment and found it empty.

All was well and calm in the House/Cameron world…at least until it came time to meet the rest of the family……


End file.
